317.94 


OF  THE 


UNIVLR5ITY 
or  ILLINOIS 

S\7.S4 

cop.  a 


i 


Trip  to  California. 


BY 


le, .  c.  3:sroBXj:E!. 


PBINTED  AT  THE  OFFICE  OF 
OUR  BEST  WORDS 

Shelbytille,  Illixois, 

1890. 


•<7 


}s/  io^  cr 


TO  MY  MOTHER 
THIS  LITTLE  BOOK  IS  LOVINGLY 
DEDICATED 
BY  HER  AFFECTIONATE  SON, 

K.  O.  NOBLE. 


CONTENTS. 

 -4-  

I.   To  New  Obleans  —  1 

II.   Theough  Texas  and  Across  the  Continent..  9 

III.   In  Califoenia    17 

lY.    San  Feancisco   43 

V.   The  Betuen  Joueney   51 

VI.   Denver  &  Eio  Geande  Railroad   58 

VIL  Kansas   69 


Errata:— Page  24,  in  the  ninth  line  "Lice  Junna"  should 
read  "Tia  Junna;"  page  60,  in  the  eighth  line  ''there"  should  be 
"sheer;"  page  66,  in  the  eighth  line  **organ  top"  should  read 
"organ  loft;"  page  73,  in  the  eleventh  line  should  read  "dear*' 
instead  of  "clear." 


OUR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 


I. 

TO  NEW  OELEANS. 

My  wife  and  I  had  often  thonglit  of  making  this 
little  journey  to  the  Pacific  coast,  and  when  the  time 
drew  near  for  our  departure,  we  found  it  was  to  be 
quite  an  event  in  our  rather  monotonous  lives,  never 
having  traveled  further  east  than  the  Atlantic,  or 
further  west  than  the  Arkansas  river.  We  were  quite 
filled  with  enthusiasm  at  the  prospect  of  so  soon  be- 
holding the  Pacific,  and  having  the  pleasure  of  say- 
ing that  we  Jaad  crossed  the  continent  of  America, 
which,  in  these  days  of  rapid  methods  of  getting 
around,  is  not  considered  much  of  an  undertaking. 
However  little  it  may  seem  to  others,  it  was  quite  an 
event  to  look  forward  to  in  our  lives.  We  had  long 
talked  of  such  a  trip  and  the  time  having  arrived  for 
the  realization  of  our  hopes,  we  were  quite  elated  and 
felt  like  school  children  out  for  a  picnic. 

After  making  all  necessary  arrangements  for  our 
domestic  affairs  and  leaving  our  little  flock  in  the 
care  of  loving  friends,  our  next  great  question  was  to 


2 


OUB  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 


/ 


select  a  route  going,  and  a  different  one  returning. 
It  was  too  early  in  the  spring  to  think  of  the  northern 
route,  and  almost  too  late  to  think  of  the  extreme 
southern.  But  as  California  was  not  the  one,  and  only 
place  we  wished  to  see,  we  soon  decided  this  very  im- 
portant question  by  selecting  our  route,  going  yia 
Illinois  Central  to  New  Orleans,  and  from  New 
Orleans  to  San  Francisco  via  Southern  Pacific.  This 
selection  gave  us  a  glimpse  of  southern  life  quite  as 
much  to  be  desired  as  the  western,  and  at  this  time 
of  the  year  quite  as  pleasant. 

On  the  30th  of  April,  1888,  we  left  Shelby ville  for 
Mattoon  where  we  were  obliged  to  remain  until  two 
o'clock  the  next  morning  before  taking  train  for  the 
south.  We  slept  some  at  the  hotel  and  finished  our 
nap  on  the  cars  before  reaching  Cairo,  our  first  city 
of  any  importance.  We  saw  yery  little  of  southern 
Illinois,  commonly  called  Egypt.  What  we  could  see 
from  the  windows  of  our  sleeper  gave  us  the  impres- 
sion we  were  leaving  a  better  country.  Cairo  is  the 
most  southern  city  in  Illinois,  and  is  situated  upon 
the  Ohio  river  quite  close  to  where  it  unites  with  the 
Mississippi.  Here  we  had  a  most  excellent  breakfast, 
and  were  not  forced  to  eat  seventy-five  cents  worth  of 
food  in  fifteen  minutes  as  is  so  often  expected,  and  so 
seldom  accomplished  by  the  traveling  public.  We 
had  ample  time,  and  a  splendid  meal,  and  then  were 
leisurely  taken  across  the  Ohio  river.  Our  entire 
train  was  run  upon  a  large  ferry  boat,  and  then  we 
wore  taken  across  the  river  and   lauded   where  th^ 


OUR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 


3 


train  could  be  once  more  run  upon  its  track;  and  I 
must  say  I  felt  as  if  we  had  a  more  solid  foundation. 
In;  passing  through.  Kentucky  we  were  kept  quite 
close  to  the  river  and  saw  very  little  good  country,  it, 
was  river  bottom  and  subject  to  overflow. 

Through  Tennessee  we  saw  some  very  good  tim- 
ber which  could  be  used  for  railroad  ties,  or  fence 
posts,  whenever  the  country  demands  such  articles. 
We  saw  very  poor  improvements.  The  greater  por- 
tion of  the  inhabitants  are  colored  people,  and  live  in 
cheap  wooden  shanties,  put  out  enough  corn  to  keep 
them  through  the  winter  and  appear  quite  content 
with  life  as  they  make  it.  To  an  enterprising  farmer 
in  Illinois  it  would  appear  primitive  in  the  extreme 
to  see  people  plowing  with  one  horse  and  using  old 
ropes  for  lines;  then,  too,  the  corn  was  dropped  by 
hand  by  women  and  children,  a  practice  obsolete  in 
the  northern  states  these  many  years.  It  is  not  fair 
to  judge  of  a  state  by  what  you  see  from  your  car 
window  in  passing  through,  but  often  in  buying 
goods  merchants  buy  from  samples  and  it  is  expected 
the  whole  is  to  come  up  to  the  represented  part.  We 
had  a  poor  sample  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  also 
Mississippi  and  Louisiana,  and  dare  not  render  judg- 
ment from  the  sample  shown  or  our  ideas  would  be 
warped  and  one-sided.  We  could  only  think  our 
southern  brothers  could  improve  their  methods  in 
agriculture  as  a  science  by  a  visit  to  Central  Illinois. 

As  we  neared  New  Orleans  we  found  the  country 
very  low  and  wet  in  many  places,  quite  covered  with 


4  OUR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 

water  and  swamps.  We  saw  many  little  shanties  set 
upon  poles  five  or  six  feet  from  the  ground  and  en- 
tirely surrounded  by  water.  I  wondered  if  the  chil- 
dren were  web-footed  and  could  swim,  or  were  long 
in  the  lower  limbs,  and  good  waders.  From  a  pure- 
ly artistic  point  of  view  these  swamps  would  seem 
quite  lovely.  A  naturalist  would  find  in  them  quite 
a  field  for  labor,  besides  the  snakes  and  vermin. 
Here  we  saw  pine  and  oak  trees  with  their  branches 
covered  with  the  moss  so  often  heard  of,  but  never 
before  seen.  It  is  a  greenish  gray  color  and  looks 
quite  fantastic  as  the  gentle  zephyrs  blow  it  back 
and  forth.  Besides  the  trees  and  moss  we  saw  many 
rare  plants  and  flowers  we  had  never  seen  and  found 
only  in  a  Southern  climate. 

Upon  reaching  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  we 
were  driven  to  our  rooms,  previously  engaged,  where 
we  had  time  to  shake  some  of  the  accumulated  real 
estate,  not  only  from  our  feet,  but  our  entire  spring 
suits.  We  found  very  pleasant  rooms  and  a  most 
excellent  table,  at  a  very  reasonable  rate.  Our  hotel 
was  on  the  corner  of  Camp  street  and  L^  f  ay ette  avenue 
and  our  rooms  faced  upon  a  very  pretty  little  square 
or  park  giving  us  a  good  view  and  good  air.  As  we 
had  slept  quite  well  the  night  before  on  the  train, 
we  were  quite  ready  after  breakfast  to  start  out  upon 
an  exploring  expedition. 

Our  first  visit  took  us  to  Oarrollton,  about  seven 
miles  out.  We  rode  up  St.  Charles  street,  the  most 
beautiful  street  in  the  city.   It  is  altogether  a  street 


0172?  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 


5 


of  residence.  Here  we  saw  many  lovely  homes,  sur- 
rounded by  large  grounds,  all  beautifully  planted 
with  trees,  shrubs,  and  plants  of  nearly  all  kinds. 
The  orange  tree  in  bloom  and  bearing  fruit  at  the 
same  time,  the  magnolia  tree  in  bud  and  full  bloom, 
evergreens,  live  oaks,  flowers  and  vines,  whose  name 
is  legion,  which,  to  fully  appreciate  their  loveliness, 
must  be  seen,  as  no  one  can  describe  their  beauty  and 
fragrance.  After  a  long  cold  winter  in  our  northern 
home,  having  snow  and  frost,  cold  winds  and  rain 
until  quite  late,  we  more  fully  appreciated  this  luxury. 
"We  found  CarroUton,  but  like  many  more  places  we 
visit,  the  principal  pleasure  consists  in  getting  there, 
as  the  journey  through  the  seven  miles  of  homes  and 
lawns  on  either  side  of  St.  Charles  street  quite  took 
away  our  appreciation  of  an  old  tumble  down  town, 
at  the  far  end.  Here  we  had  a  good  view  of  the  liv- 
er and  saw  the  levee.  The  river  is  so  very  wide  it 
looks  more  like  a  lake,  and  one  can  scarcely  realize 
that  it  is  only  a  river.  We  saw  many  old  negro 
women  fishing  and  tried  to  talk  to  some,  but  they  did 
not  understand  one  word  of  English,  they  were 
French  or  Spanish,  and  did  not  appear  to  be  very 
good  fishers,  judging  from  what  we  saw. 

The  next  morning,  May  3,  we  w^ere  up  quite 
early,  in  order  to  see  the  people  marketing  in  the 
French  markets.  These  markets  are  situated  in  the 
old  part  of  the  city,  among  some  of  the  oldest 
streets,  and  are  not  very  attractive  from  an  out- 
side view.    They  are  arranged  in  stalls  and  coun- 


6  OiJB  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 

ters  or  tables,  very  similar  to  other  market  houses ' 
and  contain  nearly  everything  found  in  any  market, 
in  the  way  of  meats,  fruits  and  vegetables;  besides  all 
these  in  an  endless  variety,  is  to  be  found  cheap 
clothing,  dry  goods,  notions,  curiosities  and  many 
other  things  not  generally  found  in  markets.  One 
thing  you  can  depend  upon  finding,  or  seeing  and 
smelling  in  nearly  every  stall,  booth  or  table,  and 
that  is  garlic.    If  you  are  fond  of  the  vegetable  and 
enjoy  the  smell,  a  trip  to  the  French  markets  will 
quite  repay  in  this  respect  alone.   The  stalls  are  most- 
ly  managed  by  French  speaking  people,  although 
nearly  all  speak  English  as  well.    After  partaking  of 
a  cup  of  very  good  chocolate,  we  left  the  markets  for 
other  scenes,  more  cheering,  if  not  more  fragrant. 
We  next  passed  through  a  small  park,  admired  the 
many  flowers  and  then  visited  the  St.  Louis  Cathe- 
dral, one  of  the  oldest  cathedrals  in  the  city.  Here 
we  found  many  worshipers  returning  from  market- 
ing, saw  some  fine  paintings  and  many  things  of  in- 
terest.   When  we  reached  our  rooms  about  eight 
o'clock  we  were  quite  ready  for  breakfast  and  did 
ample  justice  to  the  repast.    After  breakfast  we  went 
to  the  general  ticket  office  of  the  Southern  Pacific 
Eailroad  Company    where  we  selected  our  return 
route  after  considerable  delay  as  there  seemed  to  be 
quite  a  number  of  people  who  were  going  west,  and 
all  were  wishing  to  return  over  some  other  road. 
After  making  a  satisfactory  selection  we  took  a  steam 
motor  car  for  lake  Pontchartrain,  about  ten  miles  out 


OUR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA, 


1 


of  the  city.  Here  we  found  quite  a  lake,  and  quite  a 
resort.  People  who  wish  to  spend  the  day  fishing, 
boating  or  picnicing,  find  all  conveniences,  and  near- 
ly every  day  hundreds  of  citizens  and  visitors  can  be 
found  here.  As  v/e  were  returning  from  the  lake 
we  stopped  off  to  see  the  cemeteries,  which  are  very 
different  from  those  of  other  cities  as  the  bodies  of 
friends  are  not  buried  in  the  earth  but  are  placed  in 
vaults  above  ground.  Some  of  these  vaults  are  made 
of  granite,  some  of  marble,  and  others,  the  larger 
number,  of  common  brick  and  mortar.  The  grounds 
are  well  cared  for  and  contain  many  beautiful  trees 
and  flowers.  The  place  is  quite  worth  a  special  vis- 
it.  The  water  is  so  near  the  surface  it  would  be  quite 
impossible  to  dig  deep  graves,  as  they  would  fill  with 
water,  hence  the  necessity  of  making  vaults  and  keep- 
ing the  bodies  above  ground. 

In  the  afternoon  of  the  4:th  of  May  we  visited 
the  grounds  where  the  Exhibition  had  so  recently 
been  held.  Here  we  saw  nothing  really  worth  seeing, 
as  the  buildings  were  all  taken  away  and  the  grounds 
allowed  to  grow  up  in  tall  grass.  I  must  make  one 
exception,  and  that  is  the  Horticultural  building,  this 
still  remains  and  is  full  of  rare  plants,  trees  and 
flowers,  which  we  were  quite  pleased  to  see.  We  saw 
several  species  of  the  banana  tree,  the  large  and  dwarf 
species,  both  kinds  bearing  fruit.  The  huge  bunches 
appeared  quite  out  of  proportion  to  the  size  of  the 
trees.  We  also  saw  an  almost  endless  variety  of  the 
cactus^  from  California,  New  Merico  and  Colorado, 


8  OUR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 

some  small,  some  large,  one  or  two  varieties  were 
quite  a  surprise  to  xis,  they  looked  like  immense 
cucumbers,  about  twenty  feet  high,  standing  on  one 
end  without  any  branches  or  leaves.    They  were 
about  one  foot  through  and  quite  odd  looking.  We 
also  saw  fan  palm  trees,  from  California  and  Colo- 
rado, and  many  other  trees  and  plants  "too  numerous 
to  mention,"  as  farmers  say  on  sale  bills.    The  next 
day  we  did  some  shopping  and  saw  quite  a  good 
deal  of  the  city.    Altogether  we  were  much  pleased 
with  our  visit  in  New  Orleans  and  regretted  our  in- 
ability to  stay  longer.    The  air  was  moist,  cool  and 
refreshing,  the  city  looking  its  best,  having  at  this 
time  of  year  the  most  bloom.    Early  as  it  was  our 
table  was  constantly  supplied  with  fresh  strawber- 
lies,  blackberries  and  early  vegetables,  green  peas 
and  new  potatoes.    Like  most  cities  there  are  many 
things  which  require  improving,  the  streets  are  not 
well  drained  and  stagnant  water  stands  in  many 
places,  and  the  buildings  are  not  up  to  our  modern 
idea  of  a  city,  as  they  are  old  and  quite  shabby  in 
places.    We  had  often  read  of  the  handsome  Creole 
residents  of  New  Orleans.    Very  probably  they  exist, 
but  we  saw  nothing  of  them.    The  average  northern 
city  contains  quite  as  many  handsome  people,  judg. 
ing  from  what  we  saw  in  shops,  on  the  street  and  m 
the  parks.    For  a  few  months  in  the  latter  part  of 
winter  and  early  spring  I  think  New  Orleans  a  very 
desirable  place  to  visit.    After  May  I  am  told  it  is 
almost  too  hot  for  general  comfort. 


II. 


THROUGH  TEXAS  AND  ACROSS  THE 
CONTINENT. 

On  the  evening  of  the  fourth  of  May  we  left  New 
Orleans,  turning  our  faces  towards  the  setting  sun, 
crossed  the  Mississippi  river  in  a  steamboat  before 
taking  train  for  the  west,  and  oiir  idea  of  the  width 
and  immensity  of  the  "father  of  waters"  was  greatly 
magnified.  After  reaching  the  west  shore  of  the 
river  we  took  a  sleeper  on  the  Sunset  route  for  Hous- 
ton, Texas,  and  from  thence  ran  down  to  Galveston. 
Our  sleeper  did  us  little  service  that  night  as  there 
was  a  very  merry  party  of  southern  planters  on  board, 
who  had  been  visiting  New  Orleans  and  were  carry- 
ing quite  large  samples  of  fire  water  or  some  other 
exhilarating  spirits  with  them.  We  had  full  bene- 
fit of  their  free  exhibit  of  jollity  and  lost  most  of  a 
good  night's  sleep  as  our  fee.  The  next  morning 
about  nine  o'clock  we  reached  Houston,  quite  a 


10  OUR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 

thriving  little  city  of  probably  thirty  thousand  peo- 
ple. There  seems  to  be  quite  a  spirit  of  enterprise 
manifest  here;  and  the  chances  are  the  city  will  be 
much  larger  in  the  near  future. 

From  Houston  we  were  soon  on  our  way  to  Gal- 
veston, which  place  we  reached  about  noon  and  were 
immediately  driven  to  the  Beach  hotel,  the  best  in 
the  city.    The  hotel  is  situated,  as  the  name  would 
imply,  directly  on  the  beach,  and  from  the  windows 
and  verandas  we  had  a  charming  view  of  the  Gulf. 
Here  we  found  the  air  delightfully  cool  and  refresh- 
ing.   Galveston  is  situated  upon  an  island  of  the 
same  name,  about  two  miles  wide  and  twenty-seven 
miles  long.    The  island  is  quite  flat,  very  like  a  large 
sand  bar,  and  frequently  suffers  much  from  storms, 
especially  from  tidal  waves.    The  city  is  quite  well 
built,  has  a  great  many  beautiful  homes,  all  having 
large  and  attractive  grounds,  has  every  appearance 
of  wealth,  with  age  to  tone  down  the  newness,  so  often 
found  in  western  cities.    Galveston  is  a  great  cotton 
market.    The  one  great  disadvantage  she  has  to  con- 
tend with  is  her  shallow  harbor.    Should  the  com- 
mittee now  appointed  to  secure  a  deep  water  harbor 
on  the  Gulf  locate  at  Galveston  and  succeed  in  open- 
ing a  deep  harbor,  Galveston's  future  will  be  bright 
and  property  rapidly  advance,  as  she  will  not  only  be 
an  outlet  for  the  grand  state  of  Texas,  but  also  for  the 
nation,  Kansas  and  Nebraska  as  well  as  Colorado  and 
New  Mexico,  as  it  is  much  nearer  to  Galveston  than 
New  York  from  these  states  and  territory.  Galves- 


OVR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA.  11 


ton  lias  a  poj^ulation  now  of  about  thirty -fiye  thous- 
and. The  next  day  was  Sunday  and  we  spent  the  day 
watching  the  breakers  roll  in  and  the  bathers  roll  in 
the  breakers  as  well  as  seeing  the  carriages  along  the 
beach.  It  is  said  Galveston  has  the  finest  beach  for 
driving  of  any  city  in  America.  About  this  I  do  not 
know,  but  I  do  know  the  beach  here  for  driving  and 
walking  is  very  good.  There  is  a  stretch  of  many  miles 
of  white,  hard  sand  w^hich  is  much  used  for  pleasure 
driving  etc.  Next  to  New  Orleans  we  enjoyed  Gal- 
veston and  would  heartily  recommend  any  traveler 
through  Texas  to  make  this  city. 

From  Galveston  we  went  directly  to  San  Antonia, 
one  of  the  principal  inland  cities  in  Texas,  and  about 
as  large  as  Houston  or  Galveston.  It  is  said  to  be 
the  oldest  incorporated  city  in  the  United  States. 
The  U.  S.  government  building  on  Government  Hill, 
two  miles  from  the  city,  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
and  elaborate  military  posts  in  the  country.  While 
in  San  Antonia  we  visited  the  old  Spanish  mission 
called  the  Alamo.  This  building  was  built  by  the 
Franciscan  monks  many  years  ago.  The  object 
was  to  Christianize  the  wild  Indians.  Little  prog- 
ress was  made  in  this  direction.  It  was  here  also 
that  David  Crockett  lost  his  life  while  defending; 
the  town  against  the  Mexicans.  The  building  is 
made  of  stone  in  the  form  of  a  cross,  with  a  few  small 
windows  near  the  roof,  and  not  at  all  a  cheerful  place 
for  worship.  The  climate  of  this  part  of  Texas  is 
said  to  be  very  dry  and  healthful.    The  city  is  com- 


12  OUR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 

pact  and  well  built,  but  is  sadly  in  need  of  wider 
sidewalks.  The  walks  are  good  enough  but  so  very 
narrow  two  people  cannot  walk  together  and  pass 
another  without  walking  single  file  or  going  off  into 
the  street.  Many  cattle  kings  make  San  Antonia 
their  home  who  can  count  their  cattle  by  the  thous- 
ands. Eight  here  let  me  say  as  much  as  we  hear  and 
read  of  cattle  kings  and  Texas  cattle,  we  were  quite 
prepared  to  expect  good  steak  at  our  hotels,  but  alas  for 
Texas  steers,  we  never  from  New  York  state  to  Cali- 
fornia tasted  such  poor  beef  as  in  Texas.  It  was  dry, 
stringy,  coarse,  and  not  at  all  like  our  Illinois  beef, 
fed  on  blue  glass  and  corn,  and  the  cattle  we  saw  if 
not  quite  dead,  were  almost  dead,  they  were  so  thin 
and  starved  looking.  I  suppose  it  is  a  struggle  for 
life  during  the  winter  months,  and  the  weak  ones  go 
to  the  wall  and  the  more  enterprising  live,— simply  a 
'^survival  of  the  fittest,"  and  those  that  lived  all  winter 
were  not  fit  for  steak  or  roast  beef.  I  would  suggest 
fewer  in  number  and  better  care. 

After  leaving  San  Antonia  we  went  direct  to 
El  Paso,  a  thriving  young  city  in  western  Texas, 
situated  upon  the  Kio  Grande  river  and  containing 
about  ten  thousand  people.  The  city  is  quite  young 
being  about  six  years  old,  but  is  nicely  planned  and 
very  compact  having  many  good,  solid  looking  brick 
blocks,  also  electric  lights,  water  works,  and  street 
car  lines  on  several  streets.  The  city  is  situated  very 
nicely  having  no  near  rival.  It  is  eleven  hundred 
miles  from  St.  Louis  and  about  as  far  from  San  Fran- 


OUB  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA.  13 

Cisco.  Eents  are  very  higli  and  property  in  good 
locations  quite  high  enough  for  the  size  of  the  place. 
There  is  little  rain  fall  during  the  year  in  this  part  of 
Texas  and  the  altitude  is  very  high,  consequently  the 
air  is  very  dry  and  heavily  charged  with  electricity. 
I  am  told  it  is  a  very  healthy  place  and  the  climate 
peculiarly  helpful  to  those  suffering  from  lung  or 
bronchial  troubles.  The  surrounding  country  is  very 
much  like  a  desert— very  little  vegetation  as  little 
rain  falls;  and  at  present  only  very  crude  attempts  at 
irrigation  have  been  made.  I  think  sometime  dams 
may  be  made  across  the  Eio  Grande  river  and  water 
drawn  from  this  source  to  irrigate  considerable  of 
the  low  lands  bordering  along  the  river.  V/e  saw 
some  fair  vegetables  and  some  vines  looking  healthy. 

Just  across  the  Eio  Grande  river  is  situated  the 
old  town  of  El  Paso  del  Norte,  a  Mexican  town.  This 
is  a  very  interesting  little  town.  Here  we  had  our 
first  glimpse  of  Mexican  life  and  found  it,  ''compared 
to  our  American  manner  of  living,"  very  primitive 
and  not  likely  to  have  many  followers.  The  stores  and 
dwellings  were  made  of  clay  bricks  dried  in  the  sun. 
These  are  called  adobe.  The  houses  are  one  story 
high,  generally  whitewashed  on  the  out  and  inside, 
and  almost  windowless.  Should  there  be  a  window 
it  is  generally  found  quite  near  the  roof.  There  are 
quite  a  number  of  stores  carrying  large  stocks  of 
goods  and  doing  a  large  business.  We  saw  consid- 
erable silver  jewelry  and  some  Mexican  opals  offered 
quite  reasonably  low,  also  some  very  ingenious  work 


14 


OUR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 


in  wax.  While  in  El  Paso  del  Norte,  we  visite  l  the 
old  mission  church  dedicated  to  the  Lady  Guadalupe. 
This  is  another  old  Spanish  mission  established 
several  hundred  years  ago  by  the  Franciscan  monks. 
The  building  is  in  a  very  good  state  of  preservation, 
and  is  now  used  by  the  Eoman  Catholics  as  a  place  of 
worship.  We  were  told  the  wonderful  story,  ''not  new 
to  us,"  of  the  origin  of  the  banner  hanging  in  the  old 
church  in  the  city  of  old  Mexico,  also  dedicated  to  the 
Lady  Guadalupe,  which,  if  true,  is  a  very  remarkable 
occurrence  and  quite  miraculous.  We  saw  a  few  Mexi- 
can women  enter  the  church  for  confession  and  pray- 
ers. We  could  see  little  of  their  faces  as  they  all  wore 
Bome  old  veils  or  shawls  over  their  heads,  Spanish 
fashion,  a  very  good  idea,  we  thought,  for  the  homely 
ones  to  adopt. 

After  leaving  El  Paso  we  passed  through  part 
of  the  territories  of  New  Mexico  and  Arizona.  Saw 
very  few  towns  of  any  importance,  and  absolutely  no 
vegetation  of  any  kind,  save  of  the  cactus  family  and 
sage  bush;  a  few  cottonwood  trees  were  growing 
where  they  could  receive  constant  care  and  water 
daily,  and  these  looked  lonely  and  ashamed  of  their 
desolate  surroundings.  The  land  looked  rich  and 
capable,  in  many  places,  to  produce  quite  a  variety 
of  trees  and  vegetation  could  there  be  sufficient  water 
applied;  but  the  whole  country  for  miles  in  every 
direction  appears  quite  destitute  of  water,  and  when 
a  breeze  passes  over  this  dry  land  the  air  is  filled 
with  sand  and  dust,  very  demoralizing  to  clean  linen. 


OXJB  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 


15 


Several  copper  and  silver  nrines  are  worked,  but  are 
not  very  profitable  to  investors — so  I  was  told  by  a 
Scotch  gentleman  who  is  largely  interested  in  mines 
and  cattle  ranches  in  New  Mexico.  Of  course  we 
saw  the  cactus  plants  in  almost  endless  variety  and 
iu  all  stages  of  growth  and  bloom;  these  were  very 
beautiful  as  well  as  quite  odd,  but,  after  seeing  them 
exclusive  of  all  other  flowers  for  nearly  five  hundred 
miles,  we  were  not  very  enthusiastic  the  last  hundred 
miles  over  fresh  beds  of  cactus.  We  were  very  glad 
when  we  reached  Yuma,  where  we  were  to  have  break- 
fast and  a  few  moments  rest.  Here  we  had  a  very 
good  breakfast  and  saw  the  ''noble  red  man"  in  great 
numbers.  We  v/ere  much  interested  in  their  appear- 
ance, as  we  had  not  seen  tnem  in  such  large  numbers 
or  so  much  native  glory.  Many  of  the  m-n  were 
quite  well  formed  and  strong  and  vigorous  looking. 
The  women  also  were  very  healthy  looking;  many 
had  their  faces  smeared  with  several  colors  of  cheap 
paint— yellow  and  red  very  largely  predominating; 
all  wore  their  hair  hanging  down  their  backs,  and 
very  few  of  either  sex  wore  a  full  suit  of  clothes. 
We  saw  one  old  fellow  with  a  shirt  on,  and  this  con- 
stituted his  entire  wardrobe;  his  wife,  or  a  woman 
who  was  near  him,  had  on  a  cheap  skirt  of  some  sort 
and  a  flimsy  shawl  over  her  shoulders,  this  was  her 
full  costume.  The  entire  outfit  for  both  would  have 
been  dear  if  costing  over  five  dollars.  If  the  TJ.  S. 
government  has  the  clothing  to  supply  the  bill  can- 
not be  a  very  extravagant  one.    Fortunately  for  them 


16  OUR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 

the  climate  of  Yuma  is  of  such  a  character  as  to  sug- 
gest future  punishment  and  clothing  for  warmth  is  a 
needless  appendage.  My  wife  gave  one  of  the  women 
some  oranges  for  her  child  which  was  strapped  on 
her  back.  The  woman  took  them  and  thanked  us  in 
a  very  pleasant  and  dignified  manner,  showing  her 
appreciation  of  a  small  kindness.  Yuma  is  situated 
upon  the  Colorado  river,  just  where  California  joins 
Arizona  and  old  Mexico.  There  is  little  to  see  save 
the  old  fort  and  the  numerous  Indians.  The  entire 
country  looks  like  a  desert.  The  climate  is  said  to 
be  very  dry  and  healthful.  About  the  healthf ulness 
we  could  not  vouch,  but  about  the  dryness  and  hot- 
ness  we  bad  not  the  least  doubt.  Yuma  is  the  place 
where  the  story  is  told  of  a  man  who  had  lived  here 
quite  a  number  of  years,  when  he  finally  died  and 
was  taken  to  a  region  where  ice  is  not  known  and 
otherwise  noted  for  its  diy  climate.  He  appeared 
dissatisfied  and  very  uncomfortable  and  when  some 
one  asked  him  what  he  wanted  he  said  he  had  just  come 
from  Yuma,  and  he  felt  as  if  the  change  of  climate 
was  too  sudden  and  he  would  like  an  overcoat.  We 
did  not  find  it  much  cooler  after  leaving  Yuma  and 
entering  the  state  of  California. 


m. 

IN  CALIFOENIA. 

Oar  first  impressions  of  California  were  not  ve^y 
flattering  or  favorable,  as  our  line  of  travel  took  us 
through  the  worst  and  most  desolate  part  of  the  state. 
Entering  the  state  at  the  extreme  southeastern  cor- 
ner we  were  taken  for  over  one  hundred  miles 
through  the  dry  bed  of  some  extinct  lake,  and  we  were 
quite  three  hundred  feet  below  the  sea  level  with 
nothing  to  see  on  all  sides  but  a  great  ocean  of  sand-  - 
no  vegetation  of  any  kind,  not  even  the  hardy  cactus 
which  we  had  seen  for  miles  before.  Off  on  both 
sides  great  mountains  towered  forming  a  background 
to  the  once  salt  lake.  The  heat  was  almost  beyond 
endurance.  Although  in  a  Pullman  palace  car  and 
surrounded  by  all  the  comforts  and  conveniences  of 
modern  travel  we  were  very  uncomfortable  for  several 
hours— nearly  one  whole  day  in  fact— before  reach- 
ing higher  and  cooler  regions.  We  could  very  read- 
ily understand  the  privations  and  sufferings  of  the 


18  OUR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 

early  settlers  of  California  who  came  over  this  old 
trail.  About  three  oclock  in  the  afternoon  we  began 
ascending  the  mountains;  and  soon  struck  a  cool  cur- 
rent of  air  from  the  Pacific  ocean  which  relieved  our 
very  uncomfortable  atmosphere  of  some  of  the  intense 
heat.  As  we  ascended  the  mouiitains,  we  soon  began 
to  notice  evidences  of  some  vegetation,  and  soon  found 
small  trees  and  grass,  and  before  six  o'clock  p.  M.  were 
quite  out  of  the  desert  and  in  a  region  very  pleasant 
to  behold,  and  very  enjoyable.  The  air  was  cool,  and 
we  for  the  first  time  began  to  realize  that  we  were  in 
the  much  talked  of  California.  Our  first  stopping 
place  was  Colton,  where  we  remained  over  night  in 
order  to  rest  and  refresh  ourselves  before  again 
proceeding  upon  our  journey. 

After  a  bath,  a  good  supper  and  a  night's  rest, 
we  were  quite  prepared  to  see  all  there  was  to  be  seen 
in  Colton.  This  is  only  a  small  town,  where  two  rail- 
roads cross  and  just  where  the  orange  region  com- 
mences. It  is  only  a  few  miles  from  Colton  to  River- 
side where  the  famous  Washington  Navel  oranges  are 
grown,  but  of  this  I  will  speak  later.  We  saw  quite 
a  number  of  nice  homes  with  lawns  covered  with 
bluegrass — an  article  not  much  seen  west  of  the 
Mississippi  river;  also  saw  orange  trees  in  bloom  and 
full  of  ripe  fruit,  and  many  beautiful  flowers.  The 
air  was  quite  cool,  although  the  sun  shone  brightly. 
In  the  near  distance  great  mountains  could  be  seen 
with  snow  covering  their  tops.  We  visited  one 
mountain  where  marble  is  being  quarried.  The 


OUR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 


19 


marble  is  very  fine  and  much  used  in  building 
Property  is  not  unreasonably  high  in  Col  ton;  there 
are  several  good  streets  of  business  blocks,  and  the 
place  may  have  a  future. 

From  Oolton  we  took  train  south  for  San  Diego. 
This  thriving  and  much  boomed  little  city  is  situated 
in  the  extreme  southwest  corner  of  California  upon  a 
small  bay  of  the  same  name  and  has  an  excellent  har- 
bor— the  best  on  the  Pacific  coast  outside  of  San 
Francisco.  On  the  train  from  Colton  to  San  Diego 
we  met  some  friends  we  were  very  glad  to  see  as  well 
as  much  surprised.  We  were  soon  in  San  Diego  and 
went  directly  to  our  friends'  home  on  Logan  avenue. 
Here  we  remained  nearly  two  weeks  enjoying  the 
glorious  climate  and  bay  every  moment. 

There  is  little  to  sav  about  San  Diego  as  a  city 
that  would  be  new  to  most  American  people,  as  the 
city  has  been  so  extensively  advertised  and  boomed 
there  remains  nothing  more  to  be  said;  we  only  re- 
peat a  few  facts  worth  mentioning  leaving  climate  and 
bay  for  more  enthusiastic  writers.  San  Diego  at 
present  is  quite  a  thriving  little  city  of  about  twenty- 
five  thousand  people.  It  is  beautifully  located  upon 
the  foothills,  giving  the  residents  almost  any  desired 
elevation  for  their  homes.  The  grades  are  not  too  ab- 
rupt, but  quite  steep  in  places;  and  one  can  have 
their  choice  from  the  level  of  the  ocean  to  the  top  of 
some  adjoining  mountain.  The  bay  is  small,  about 
two  miles  wide  by  ten  long,  but  is  deep  and  consid- 
ered excellent.    The  country  around  the  city  I  can 


20  OUB  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 

say  little  about,  as  like  all  southern  California  it  ib 
too  dry  to  produce  vegetables  or  fruit  without  irriga- 
tion, and  but  little  headway  has  been  made  in  this 
direction,  as  water  for  such  purposes  is  very  scarce- 
most  of  the  large  streams  io  California  flowing  into 
the  bay  near  San  Francisco,  about  the  center  of 
state  north  and  south,  and  very  few  streams  are 
found  south.  Then,  too,  the  country  is  very  moun- 
tainous and  rocky  with  very  few  wide  valleys,  leav- 
ing comparatively  little  real  desirable  good  farming 
land  even  coiald  it  be  watered.  Then,  too,  the  spec- 
ulator and  boomer  has  taken  hold  with  a  death  like 
grip  and  killed  the  little  inducements  the  country 
might  offer  for  settlers  in  advancing  comparatively 
worthless  land  to  ten  times  the  value  of  good  land 
found  in  eastern  states,  leaving  little  for  a  poor  man 
to  desire  save  the  climate  and  bay,  which  certainly 
are  all  any  reasonable  creature  could  desire  but  do 
not  sustain  life  long  alone. 

People,  and  intelligent  people,  differ  very  much 
in  their  opinion  as  to  the  future  of  San  Diego  as  a 
city.  I  will  not  give  all  I  heard,  only  two  extreme 
views.  One  gentleman  from  St.  Louis  I  met  in  Eiv- 
erside,  a  gentleman  of  wide  views  and  much  business 
esiperience,  the  president  of  some  car  manufacturing 
(Company,  told  me  he  thought  San  Diego  would  make 
a  very  prosperous  and  a  large  city  in  a  few  years;  he 
thought  the  harbor  was  a  sufficient  inducement  to  ship- 
pers  and  wholesale  and  manufacturing  men  to  build 
tip  a  large  city,  even  Were  there  no  land  worth  having 


PUB  TRIF  TO  CALIFORNIA. 


21 


within  one  hundred  miles  of  San  Diego.  Another 
gentleman  of  much  travel  through  California  told 
jne  San  Diego  county  was  the  worst  county  in  the 
whole  state  and  with  nothing  to  ship  from  the  haAor 
but  sand,  the  city  could  never  be  very  large.  These 
are  both  probably  extreme  views  but  are  as  I  received 
them.  San  Diego  has  now  many  beautiful  homes 
with  lawns  of  bluegrass,  flowers  and  shrubbery  that 
would  compare  favorably  with  older  eastern  cities; 
has  electric  lights,  water  works,  electric  car  lines,  and 
several  steam  motor  lines  as  well  as  several  railroads, 
with  ships  from  many  ports  on  its  harbor.  The  lum- 
ber  teade  is  immense.  The  lumber  is  brought  in 
boats  from  the  north  and  unloaded  here  and  then 
shipped  by  rail  to  inland  cities,  Los  Angelos  and  other 
places  with  no  or  very  poor  harbors.  The  city  at 
present  is  suffering  greatly  from  a  very  large  supply 
of  town  lots  and  a  very  limited  demand.  I  think  I  can 
truthfully  say  I  saw  lots  enough  lying  around  the 
city  to  fully  accommodate  a  population  of  quite  five 
hundred  thousand  people,  and,  as  there  are  now  about 
twenty-five  thousand,  there  will  for  soaie  years  in  the 
future  be  no  particular  need  to  lay  out  fresh  additions. 
Many  of  these  lots  during  the  first  excitement  and 
boom  sold  for  fancy  prices,  but  now  are  hanging  fire 
at  less  than  one  half  what  they  could  have  been  sold 
for.  Bents,  too,  for  homes  and  business  purposes 
were  very  high  but  now  are  much  reduced  and  quite 
reasonable. 

Our  first  excursion  out  of  the  city  was  to  a  place 


22 


OUE  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 


in  the  mountains  called  Sweet  Water  Dam.  This  is 
a  large  reservoir  furnishing  water  for  National  City 
and  Chulu  Vista,  two  suburban  town  of  San  Diego. 
The  principal  feature  of  this  dam  is  the  masonry. 
The  walls  are  built  from  one  side  of  a  deep  ravine  to 
the  other,  and  are  about  eighty  feet  high  and  probably 
ten  or  twelve  feet  wide  at  the  bottom,  and  four  or  five 
on  top.  There  is  room  on  top  for  persons  to  walk 
quite  comfortably.  The  walk  is  guarded  by  iron 
hand  rails,  making  it  quite  safe.  The  water  in  the 
reservoir,  we  were  told,  was  over  fifty  feet  deep  and 
constantly  increasing  in  depth.  The  country  is  quite 
romantic  looking.  The  mountains  were  quite  bare 
and  we  sadly  missed  the  trees  and  verdure  so  familiar 
further  north  and  east  One  very  pleasant  feature 
of  San  Diego  and  most  Calif  ornian  and  western  cities 
is  their  means  of  travel.  The  cities  are  all  well  sup- 
plied with  street  car  lines,  electric  cars  or  steam  motors 
and  these  all  run  to  some  points  of  interest  miles 
out  in  the  country.  In  this  respect  they  are  far  in 
advance  of  many  eastern  cities.  Our  friends  accom- 
panied us  to  Sweet  Water  Dam,  and  after  admiring 
the  walls  and  scenery  in  general  we  had  a  most  excel- 
lent  lunch,  which  we  all  did  ample  justice  to,  and 
then  returned  home  wiser  and  happier  for  our  day's 
adventure. 

Our  next  trip  was  to  a  high  rolling  plateau 
called  University  Heights,  so  called  on  account  of 
its  eleyation  and  the  probability  of  there  sometime 
being  a  university  erected.    The  location  is  beauti- 


OUM  TRIP  TO  VALIFORNIA. 


23 


ful,  high  and  dry,  commanding  an  excellent  view  of 
the  bay  and  city;  all  it  lacks  is  the  university  and 
students  to  quite  satisfy  one's  expectations,  as  the 
name  suggests.  This  place  is  reached  by  an  electric 
car,  running  three  or  four  miles  from  the  city  into 
space,  or  town  lots  unsold  and  uninhabited,  but  not 
unnumbered.  The  view  from  the  heights  quite  re- 
paid our  efforts.  Outside  of  this  we  saw  little  of 
interest,  save  the  never  ending  stakes  showing  town 
lots  marked  off,  splendid  opportunities  for  invest- 
ments which  if  not  taken  soon  we  would  probably 
miss  a  chance  of  making  a  fortune  and  such  a  chance 
might  never  again  be  presented.  We  took  the  mat- 
ter into  serious  consideration,  hesitated  betwixt 
two  opinions,  and  finally  missed  the  chance,  and 
probably  lost  a  fortune!  After  admiring  the  bay 
and  town  lot  stakes  until  we  were  thoroughly  satis- 
fied we  returned  to  the  city  and  the  next  day  took  a 
little  trip  across  the  line  into  old  Mexico.  In 
going  we  passed  through  National  City,  quite  a  thriv- 
ing little  place,  having  a  good  harbor  and  one  rail- 
road. San  Diego  and  National  City  will  soon  be 
one  city  as  both  are  growing  towards  each  other  and 
the  distance  be  ween  them  is  not  great.  After  leav-r 
ing  National  City  we  passed  through  Chulu  Yista, 
another  suburban  town  on  the  bay.  This  place  has 
quite  a  number  of  very  nice  comfortable  looking 
homes,  and  is  exclusively  a  place  of  residence.  From 
Chulu  Vista  we  went  to  some  hot  sulphur  Springs  in 
Old  Mexico  some  distance  across  the  line.    We  found 


24  OUR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 

everything  here  in  a  very  primitive  condition.  No 
conveniences  of  any  kind  in  the  way  of  hotels  or 
boarding  houses;  the  bathing  conveniences  were 
very  rude  and  not  inviting;  the  water  we  found  quite 
hot  and  strongly  enough  impregnated  with  sulphur 
to  suit  the  most  fastidious.  We  drank  some  of  the 
water  but  did  not  bathe  as  we  did  not  require  such  a 
shock.  On  our  return  we  passed  through  a  Mexican 
village  called  Lice  Junna.  This  is  a  border  town 
and  a  resort  for  toughs,  where  upon  Sundays,  prize 
fights,  cock  fights  and  bull  fights  ara  indulged  in 
much  to  the  entertainment  of  its  patrons.  Our  stay 
in  this  progressive  place  was  limited  having  urgent 
business  in  San  Diego,  besides  the  climate  here  is  not 
so  good  as  nearer  the  bay. 

Another  very  pleasant  place  of  resort  we  visited 
in  company  with  our  friends,  was  the  island  and 
Hotel  Coronado.  The  island  is  really  a  peninsula 
joined  to  the  main  land  by  a  very  narrow  neck  of 
land  scarcely  wide  enough  for  a  carriage  driveway. 
This  seems  a  slight  barrier  to  divide  the  bay  from 
the  great  Pacific  ocean.  The  main  land  is  not  large 
and  is  mostly  platted  into  lots  for  homes.  The 
Hotel  Del  Coronado  is  the  great  attraction  here,  and 
is  in  every  particular  a  lovely  place,  situated  upon 
a  point  of  land  where  the  waters  of  the  ocean  and 
bay  almost  meet.  The  hotel  is  built  around  a  court 
and  this  ground  is  planted  with  beautiful  flowers  and 
trees,  only  to  be  found  in  a  tropical  climate.  The  in- 
side of  the  hotel  is  elegantly  furnished  and  compares 


OUR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 


25 


or  far  surpasses  many  of  our  eastern  first  class  li  otels 
Here  the  sun  shines,  the  birds  sing,  the  flowers  bloom, 
the  air  is  moist  and  spring  like,  not  for  a  few  weeks 
or  months  in  summer,  but  all  the  year  around.  Every 
day  is  a  repetition  of  the  one  preceding.  Tomorrow 
will  be  like  today  and  today  like  yesterday,  and  right 
here  is  where  the  southern  coast  of  California  has  its 
great  advanta^^e  and  always  will.    There  are  no 
storms,  no  thunder  or  cyclones,  nothing  but  sun- 
shine and  flowers;  of  course  there  are  fleas  and  some 
loose  sand  flying  around  when  the  zephyrs  are  too 
boisterous,  but  these  are  rare  and  the  fleas  bite  as  if 
they  were  almost  starved,  I  think  they  will  soon  die; 
and  then  when  the  streets  are  sprinkled  and  the  dust 
ceases  to  fly  this  country  will  be  quite  perfect.  A 
few  days  after  our  visit  to  this  famous  hotel  we  were 
invited  by  Miss  N.  to  visit  another  seaside  resort 
further  north.    And  right  here  in  justice  to  our 
friends,  let  me  say  we  can  never  forget  their  untir- 
ing efforts  to  make  our  visit  most  agreeable  and 
pleasant,  nor  the  wonderful  lunches  that  they  pre- 
pared for  us;  the  remembrance  of  the  same  inclines 
our  mouths  to  long  for  more.    The  resort  mentioned 
further  north  on  the  coast  is  called  La  Jolla  (pro- 
nounced lah-hoe-yah),  a  Spanish  name  meaning  ''the 
hole."    This  resort  is  about  sixteen  miles  north  of 
San  Diego,  and  like  many  other  towns  on  the  coast 
is  very  largely  laid  out  but  very  little  built.    A  good 
hotel  is  situated  upon  the  beach,  but  I  think  it  is  not 
open  for  travelers;  one  or  two  small  houses,  xjrob- 


26 


OUR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 


ably  one  occupied  by  some  of  the  town  company  peo- 
ple, the  other  vacant,  ^ives  a  good  idea  of  a  town — 
or  this  particular  town.  The  beach  is  very  pict- 
uresque. Here  we  saw  many  beautiful  gold  fishes 
in  the  water,  quite  close  to  shore;  we  also  saw  sea- 
lions  swimming  around  quite  close  and  thousands  of 
crabs  on  the  rocks;  here  also  we  noticed  for  the  first 
time  a  peculiar  plant  or  plant- animal  called  the 
anemone.  In  water,  when  open,  they  look  like  a 
flower,  but  when  closed  and  out  of  water  they  look 
more  like  a  piece  of  dark,  cold  starch.  We  also 
found  a  great  variety  of  small  shells,  very  delicate 
and  pretty. 

Returning  from  La  JoUa,  after  having  spent  a 
delightful  day  picking  sea  shells  and  wading  along 
the  beach,  we  stopped  for  a  short  time  at  Pacific 
Beach,  another  resort  nearer  San  Diego  and  having 
a  large  hotel  and  much  better  beach  for  bathing  than 
La  Jolla,  but  not  so  romantic  or  quite  so  quiet  and 
retired.  A  few  days  rest  and  we  were  quite  ready 
for  fresh  fields  or  fresh  resorts  and  the  coast 
abounds  in  these.  The  next  place  visited  was  Ocean 
Beach,  not  far  from  San  Diego  and  accessible  with- 
out the  use  of  steam  cars.  Here  we  made  quite  a 
party  and  had  a  sort  of  family  gathering.  The  coast 
is  low  and  flat  in  places  and  oflPers  splendid  oppor- 
tunities for  surf  bathing,  in  other  places  it  is  quite 
rocky  and  very  abrupt  and  rather  dangerous.  This 
place  also  has  a  surplus  of  town  lots  offered  for  sale. 
After  walking  along  the  beach  and  watching  the  tide 


OVR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA.  27 


come  ill,  seeing  the  great  waves  break  over  the  rocks, 
we  were  treated  to  a  famous  dinner,  having  some- 
thing of  'most  everything  desirable  this  beautiful 
country  affords.  Some  of  our  supplies  were  taken 
from  the  sea  and  were  much  relished  by  all.  Though 
we  were  very  hungry  and  our  dinner  so  very  tempt- 
ing, one  of  our  party  quite  surpassed  all  our  efforts 
in  diminishing  our  supplies.  After  partaking  of 
quite  a  large  sample  of  'most  everything  and  fre- 
quently doubling  the  order,  he  finislied  his  repast  by 
trying  to  depopulate  the  Pacific  or  that  part  of  it 
by  destroying  the  young  and  tender  mussel,  abivalye 
something  like  a  clam — only  more  so.  He  was  very 
successful  in  his  efforts,  so  much  so  we  were  all  com- 
pelled to  yield  him  the  prize.  "Well,"  he  said, 
never  knew  mussels  were  so  good,  and  I  never  felt 
so  good  in  my  life."  He  soon  began  to  show  his  good 
feeling  by  turning  handsprings  and  standing  on  his 
head  on  the  beach.  When,  Lo!  presto  change,  the 
scene  shifted,  his  countenance  became  ashen,  the 
imprisoned  mussels  made  a  strike  for  liberty  or 
death,  or  probably  they  preferred  the  deep  sea; 
however  it  was,  they  succeeded  quite  admirably 
in  reaching  the  coast,  Jonah  fashion,  sadder  but 
wiser  mussels.  The  boy.  Oh!  where  was  he?  After 
dinner  we  drove  along  the  coast  which  soon  changed 
from  a  low  flat  beach  to  a  steep  rocky  one,  where  we 
saw  great  caves  in  the  rocks,  washed  out  by  the  action 
of  the  waves  during  high  tide.  Some  places  were 
quite  frightful  and  dangerous  to  look  into;  here  the 


28 


OTJR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 


waves  came  thundering  and  roaring  np  against  tlie 
rocks  "sounding  more  like  cannonading  than  anything 
else  I  can  think  of.  The  view  from  these  high  rocky 
bluffs  was  quite  charming,  the  air  very  soft  aiid  warm, 
and  when  it  was  time  to  return  home  our  hearts  were 
filled  with  thankfulness  for  the  happy  days  spent  on 
the  coast  and  a  feeling  of  almost  sadness  at  times 
came  over  us  as  we  thought  this  would  very  likely 
be  our  last  day  with  our  friends.  Every  moment  had 
been  deeply  enjoyed.  We  were  so  free  from  cares  of 
any  kind,  and  our  recreation  so  complete,  having 
every  arrangement  made  for  our  pleasure  and  com- 
fort planned  by  dear  friends,  we  were  sorry  to  once 
more  take  up  some  of  the  burdens  of  life  and  be  com- 
pelled to  plan  and  arrange  all  our  future  trips  ourselves. 
Oar  time  had  been  so  fully  taken  up  with  picnics, 
excursions,  boat  rides,  drives  etc.,  it  all  passed  before 
we  were  nearly  ready  to  leave.  We  had  only  a  few 
weeks  at  our  command  and,  as  there  were  many  places 
of  interest  to  visit  before  returning  east,  we  were 
obliged  to  shorten  our  delightful  visit  in  San  Diego 
and  turn  our  faces  northward. 

From  San  Diego  we  went  directly  to  Elsinore 
a  little  inland  place  among  the  mountains  situated 
upon  the  borders  of  a  small  sulphur  lake,  and  having 
numerous  hot  sulphur  springs.  The  sulphur  lake  is 
quite  pretty  to  look  at  from  a  distance  but  upon  a 
near  approach  nearly  kills  one  having  a  delicate  sense 
of  smell.  The  fumes  are  horrible.  We  found  a  very 
good  hotel  and  enjoyed  the  baths.    Here  we  found 


OUR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA.  29 

it  much  hotter  than  on  the  coast  and  sadly  missed 
the  cool  breeze  from  the  ocean.  The  smell  of  the 
sulphur  from  the  lake  and  springs  strongly  suggests 
stale  eggs.  I  did  not  at  all  relish  this  part,  otherwise 
it  is  quite  a  cosy  little  town,  and  a  deliojhtful  place 
to  bathe,  fish,  hunt  or  rest;  we  rested  mostly.  Our 
next  place  of  attraction  was  in  the  famous  orange  re- 
gion and  called 

BIVERSIDE. 

Eiverside  is  situated  on  the  mesa  or  table 
land,  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Santa  Ana  river,  and 
about  fifty  miles  from  the  sea  coast;  has  an  elevation 
of  eight  hundred  and  fifty  feet  above  sea  level.  The 
valley  is  entirely  surrounded  by  mountains  ranging 
from  three  thousand  to  thirteen  thousand  feet  high. 
The  atmosphere  is  very  dry,  and  is  considered  very 
good  for  persons  suffering  from  pulmonary  or  bron- 
chial diseases;  and  a  climate  that  is  good  for  sick 
people,  is  also  good  for  well  people.  For  ten  months 
in  the  year  Riverside  is  considered  almost  a  para- 
dise to  live  in,  but  during  July  and  August  the  days 
are  almost  too  hot  for  general  comfort.  It  is  only  a 
short  distance  to  the  sea  whore  the  days  are  always 
cool,  making  it  a  very  desirable  place  for  a  perma- 
nent residence.  Eiverside  contains  many  beautiful 
iiomes,  all  having  large  orchards  of  orange  groves; 
also  a  large  variety  of  other  fruits,  peaches,  pears, 
apricots,  cherries,  plums,  prunes,  olives,  grapes,  and 
all  the  small  fruits;  and  flowers  of  the  most  beautiful 
kinds  surround  many  of  the  homes.    The  different 


30 


OVR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 


denominational  churches  are  well  represented  and  all 
appear  well  attended,  as  I  am  told  the  Ei\;grside  peo- 
ple are  a  prohibition  and  church  attendirig  people. 
The  public  schools  are  also  said  to  rank  equal  to  east- 
ern schools  m  cities  of  same  size. 

The  great  and  principal  attractive  feature  of 
Eiverside,  aside  from  its  congenial  climate,  is  the 
cultivation  of  the  orange  tree.  The  annual  sale  of 
fruits,  which  consists  mostly  of  oranges,  amounts  to 
nearly  one  million  dollars.  When  we  consider  the 
newness  of  the  town  and  surrounding  settlement  we 
more  fully  appreciate  this  vast  fruit  industry.  The 
streets  are  very  uicely  laid  out,  and  homes  on  both 
sides  have  large  grounds,  from  j&ve  to  forty  acres  of 
land,  all  planted  in  fruit— chieJiy  the  orange  trees. 
Riverside,  like  all  southern  California,  is  depend- 
ent on  irrigation  for  its  prosperity.  The  better  the 
water  supply  the  more  the  prosperity.  Eiverside 
has  the  best  water  supply  in  southern  California, 
having  more  water  to  the  acre  than  any  other  settle- 
ment. Land  near  Eiverside,  like  through  all  south- 
ern California,  is  very  high,  and  greatly  prized  by 
the  fortunate  holders.  In  order  that  you  may  more 
fully  understand  the  value  of  real  estate  here,  I  will 
give  you  the  exact  figures  as  they  were  given  to 
me  by  a  real  estate  dealer,  then  you  can  more  fully 
appreciate  our  very  low  priced  lands  in  central  Illi- 
nois. 

Say  you  want  twenty  acres  of  land  near  Eiver- 


OVE  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA,  31 

side,  this  including  water  privilege  will  cost  about  as 
follows: 

Twenty  acres  land  @  $1000  per  acre   $20,000 

Sixteen  hundred  orange  trees  to  plant  @  $2,00  each . .  3,200 
Benting  and  caring  for  same,  one  year  @  $50.  per  acre,  1,000 

Caring  for  orchard  four  years  @  $30.  per  acre,   2,400 

Interest  on  $20,000  @  10  per  cent,  for  five  years   10,000 

Cost  of  twenty  acres  with  trees  bearing,   $36,600 

This  is  simply  the  cost  of  your  orchard.  Your 


houses  and  barns  and  grounds  around  house  will  cost 
as  much  or  little  as  you  desire  to  expend.  From 
these  figures  you  can  readily  see  our  poor  eastern 
people,  small  farmers,  tenants,  or  day  laborers,  cannot 
hope  to  buy  large  grounds  near  Eiverside;  and  people 
of  much  wealth  do  not  generally  care  to  cultivate 
oranges  as  a  source  of  income.  I  cannot  help  think- 
ing cheaper  lands  would  be  sooner  occupied.  B  ut  as 
large  as  the  figures  per  acre  look  I  am  told  quite 
handsome  returns  are  realized.  Some  orchards  re- 
turn from  $800  to  $1500  per  acre  in  fruit,  yearly. 
The  average  is  about  from  three  hundred  to  four 
hundred  dollars  per  acre,  yearly,  thus  making  a 
large  per  cent,  on  the  large  investment.  Then ,  too, 
the  climate  you  have  free  and  this  is  one  of  Califor- 
nia's chief  attractions.  The  water  for  irrigation  is 
brought  from  some  near  river  or  mountain  stream  in 
large  ditches,  and  from  the  main  ditch  is  run  into 
small  ditches  on  each  side  of  the  street,  and  from 
these  small  ditches  it  is  run  in  small  furrows  on  each 
side  of  a  row  of  trees.    The  orange  trees  are  planted 


32  OUR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA, 

in  rows  very  mucli  like  an  apple  orchard,  only  the 
trees  do  not  grow  so  large  and  are  planted  nearer  to- 
gether. These  trees  are  cultivated  about  as  we  cul- 
tivate corn,  and  water  is  turned  upon  the  furrows 
about  once  in  six  weeks.  Our  visit  in  Eiverside  was 
not  long,  but  very  pleasant  and  profitable  in  many 
ways.  One  drive  in  particular  we  very  much  enjoy- 
ed, this  was  through  Magnolia  avenue.  This  avenue 
is  about  eight  miles  long  and  quite  wide.  It  has  a 
row  of  trees  upon  each  side  and  one  through  its  cen- 
ter, forming  a  double  driveway.  The  houses  on 
either  side  are  very  handsome  and  the  grounds  quite 
large,  from  ten  to  forty  acres,  and  nearly  all  planted 
with  the  Washington  Navel  oranges. 

From  Eiverside  we  w^ent  to  Pasadena,  a  beautiful 
little  city  quite  near  Los  Angeles.  In  fact  it  is  a  city 
of  residences  made  up  largely  of  people  who  do  busi- 
ness in  Los  Angeles.  It  is  probably  nine  miles  dis- 
tant by  rail  from  Los  Angeles,  and  very  nicely  situ- 
ated;  contains  about  ten  thousand  people.  Here  we 
found  good  hotels,  excellent  churches,  and  many 
beautiful  homes.  The  climate  here  is  very  much 
like  Eiverside,  probably  some  cooler  as  it  is  much 
nearer  the  Pacific.  I  think  it  is  about  thirty  miles 
east  of  the  coast,  and  well  protected  from  the  cold 
winds  by  numerous  foot  hills.  Oranges  and  other 
fruits  are  grown  here  but  do  not  appear  to  do  as  well 
as  in  Eiverside.  Eeal  estate  we  found  bringing 
fancy  prices,  far  beyond  real  worth.  AVe  found  the 
best  sidewalks  in   Pasadena  of   any  city  visited. 


QUE  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA.  33 

These  walks  are  made  of  cement  and  are  very  smooth 
and  even.  Most  small  and  many  large  cities  in  the 
west  have  such  a  variety  of  walks  one  is  never  quite 
certain  what  they  may  meet  in  the  next  block, 
whether  wood,  brick,  stone,  gravel,  cement,  or  coal 
ashes  is  quite  uncertain.  Should  you  step  upon  a 
loose  board  you  would  soon  discover  the  nature  of 
this  particular  kind  of  walk.  We  remained  in  Pasa- 
dena about  one  week.  While  there  visited  the  Kay- 
mond  Hotel  and  several  points  of  interest  quite  close. 
Above  all  we  enjoyed  the  pure  air,  the  beautiful 
flowers,  and  the  rest  to  be  found  in  such  quiet 
secluded  spots.  From  Pasadena  we  went  to  Los 
Angeles. 

This  booming  city  contains  about  sixty  thousand 
people,  and  is  situated  twenty  miles  from  the  coast 
and  about  five  hundred  and  eighty-five  miles  south 
of  San  Francisco.  Next  to  San  Francisco,  Los 
Angeles  is  the  most  flourishing  and  important  city 
of  California.  Taking  all  things  into  consideration, 
equability  of  temperature,  healthfulness  pf  climate, 
grand  mountain  scenery,  productiveness  of  soil,  rail- 
road and  ocean  facilities,  it  has  few  rivals,  as  a  win- 
ter resort  or  place  of  permanent  residence.  There  is 
a  deliciousness  of  atmosphere  about  the  summer 
nights,  that  can  be  felt  in  no  other  part  of  the  world, 
50  we  were  told,  and  must  accept  the  statement  as  a 
fact,  not  being  able  to  prove  the  falsity  of  the  asser- 
tion. But  the  winters  of  Los  Angeles  are  perfection. 
While  all  is  rude  and  cold  and  leafless,  flowerless  and 


34  OUR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 

changeable,  further  north  and  east,  in  Los  Angeles 
wind  and  weather,  and  heaven  and  earth,  seemingly 
conspire  in  sunshine  and  blue  sky,  in  leaf  and  blos- 
som and  golden  fruit,  to  make  this  period  the  very 
crown  of  the  year.  Los  Angeles  has  had  a  wonder- 
ful growth  inside  three  or  four  years,  and  as  a  con- 
sequence real  estate  has  advanced  very  rapidly  in 
value,  until  it  reached  a  period  when  buying  and  sell- 
ing real  estate  seemed  to  occupy  the  attention  of 
almost  every  other  citizen  you  came  across.  On  the 
streets  nearly  every  other  building  was  converted  into 
a  real  estate  office,  and  the  chief  topic  of  conversation 
on  the  streets,  in  hotels  and  boarding  houses,  and  in 
street  cars  and  almost  everywhere,  ^'churches  very 
likely  exempted,"  was  the  prices  of  lots  and  the  won- 
derful advance  in  certain  localities.  Hundreds  of 
men  made  enormous  fortunes,  and  hundreds  of  the 
last  investors  in  outside  properties  have  put  their 
money  in  a  place  where  it  is  quite  safe  from  thieves 
and  robbers,  but  where  they  will  not  realize  a  very 
large  profit  for  some  time  m  the  future.  Los  Angeles 
as  a  commercial  city  is,  and  will  be  in  the  future,  one 
of  the  best  cities  in  southern  California.  As  a  place 
of  residence  we  did  not  find  it  quite  as  attractive  as 
Pasadena.  The  streets  were  torn  up,  the  walks  poor 
and  the  city  generally  in  a  very  unfinished  condition. 

About  twenty  miles  from  Los  Angeles  is  situated 
Santa  Monica,  a  famous  sea  side  resort  having  an  ex- 
cellent  beach  for  bathing  and  a  very  superior  hotel. 
This  place  is  visited  daily  by  hundreds  of  the  Los 


OUB  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA.  35 

Angeles  people  who  seem  to  fully  appreciate  the  ben- 
efits of  so  delightful  and  convenient  a  resort. 

Quite  near  the  city  is  situated  the  ostrich  farm, 
where  the  experiment  of  raising  the  ostrich  for  profit 
is  being  tried.  When  the  farm  was  first  started  there 
were  about  sixty  large  birds  to  start  with.  When 
we  visited  the  farm  we  found  twenty-five  large  birds, 
showing  a  large  decrease.  We  concluded  that  at  this 
rate  of  raising  birds  the  business  would  soon  die  out 
for  want  of  birds.  We  saw  ten  small  birds  about 
two  weeks  old,  also  the  eggs  which  were  enormous 
in  size.  The  large  birds  are  kept  in  lots  fenced  with 
boards  very  much  as  we  make  lots  for  cattle  or  horses. 
They  are  fed  daily  by  the  keeper.  Their  food  con- 
sists of  grain  and  clover  hay  or  green  alfalfa  cut  fine. 
They  eat  about  as  much  as  a  horse  or  cow.  The  large 
birds  have  very  long  bare  legs  which  they  use  to  con« 
siderable  advantage  running.  I  cannot  help  think- 
ing they  could  be  employed  to  great  advantage  by 
some  enterprising  base  ball  club.  Another  purpose 
they  put  their  legs  to  quite  vigorously  is  kicking. 
"We  were  told  they  coiald  kick  higher  and  harder 
than  a  Texas  mule.  We  did  not  doubt  the  assertion, 
and  kept  quite  a  respectable  distance  from  the  fence. 
The  farm  is  very  nicely  situated  in  a  small  valley 
surrounded  by  high  mountains  and  we  were  told  the 
climate  here  resembled  yery  much  the  climate  of 
Africa  where  the  birds  are  found.  The  gate  fees 
were  fifty  cents  each  for  visitors  and  this  part  of  the 
farming  seems  to  be  the  most  profitable. 


36  OVR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 

Oar  next  point  of  interest,  after  fully  enjoying 
the  climate  and  appreciating  the  advantages  of  Los 
Angeles,  was  Santa  Cruz,  a  lovely  little  city  on  the 
bay  of  Monterey,  about  five  hundred  miles  north  of 
Los  Angeles  and  about  one  hundred  miles  south  of 
San  Francisco.    This  place  is  situated  upon  the  bay, 
and  at  the  foot  of  the  coast  range  of  mountains  and 
quite  isolated  from  the  rest  of  the  world.    The  moun- 
tains are  covered  with  pine  and  other  trees  giving 
the  place  a  look  more  like  the  far  east,  and  not  so 
desolate  and  barren  as  southern  California  appears 
in  general.    Santa  Cruz  has  a  population  of  about 
ten  thousand  people,  during  the  summer  there  are 
many  more,  as  it  is  a  famous  resort  for  citizens  from 
San  Francisco.    Until  the  building  of  the  hotel  Del 
Monte  near  Monterey,  at  least  for  fifteen  or  twenty 
years,  Santa  Cruz  had  been  the  most  popular  and 
most  fashionable  winter  resort  in  California,  and  al- 
though Monterey,  forty  miles  further  south  on  the 
same  bay,  has  become  the  Mecca  of  the  fashionables 
Santa  Cruz  has  lost  none  of  its  popularity  and  as 
many  people  congregate  there  as  heretofore.  The 
beach  is  a  very  fine  one  about  one  mile  from  the  cen- 
ter of  the  town  and  reached  by  steam  cars,  or  street 
cars,  or  the  walks  are  good  and  it  is  not  too  far  for 
pedestrians.    We  were  fortunate  in  finding  a  very 
comfortable  private  boarding  house,  called  the  New 
England  Home,  kept  by  eastern  people.    Here  our 
rooms  were  large  and  cool,  well  furnished  and  our  ta- 
ble supplied  with  the  best  of  everything  in  the  way 


OVR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA.  37 

of  fruit  and  vegetables  to  be  found  in  the  market  j  and 
I  might  say  here,  that  in  the  way  of  fruits  we  had  a 
great  variety,  yiz:  peaches,  pears,  plums,  apricots, 
cherries,  oranges,  figs,  currants,  gooseberries,  straw- 
berries, raspberries  and  blackberries,  all  fresh  and 
grown  quite  near.  Our  stay  in  Santa  Cruz  was  de- 
lightful, e  spent  most  of  our  time  on  the  beach 
when  the  tide  was  low  watching  the  bathers  and  hun- 
dreds of  people  sitting  or  lying  down  on  the  white 
sands.  The  air  was  cool,  and  we  never  suffered  from 
excessive  heat.  One  day  we  visited  the  big  trees  of 
Santa  Cruz,  about  five  miles  north  of  the  city.  There 
are  about  twenty  very  large  trees.  Although  there 
are  scores  of  very  large  trees,  yet  a  few  are  so  very 
large  as  to  be  quite  worthy  of  special  mention.  The 
largest  is  called  the  Giant  and  is  three  hundred  feet 
high,  and  twenty-one  feet  in  diameter.  Historic  in- 
terest is  attached  to  another  tree  called  general  Fre- 
mont; this  tree  is  hollow  and  formed  a  home  for 
general  Fremont  in  1847.  A  whole  family  have  lived 
in  this  tree,  doing  their  cooking,  eating  and  sleeping 
in  its  huge  capacity;  children  have  been  born  here 
and  it  is  said  the  tree  ip  so  large  that  forty  men  can 
stand  up  in  its  inside  without  any  great  inconven- 
ience. We  left  our  cards  and  address  inside  of  this 
great  tree,  and  more  fully  appreciated  the  wonderful 
in  nature  and  the  insignificance  of  man. 

MONTEREY. 

One  day  while  in  Santa  Cruz  we  joined  a  party 
of  picnicjiers  from  San  Francisco  under  the  manage- 


88  OVR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 

ment  of  the  Y.  M.  0.  A.  and  visited  Monterey.  This 
resort,  so  far  as  the  hotel  and  grounds  are  concerned, 
is  generally  considered  by  far  the  most  delightful,  as 
well  as  the  most  fashioaable  resort  upon  the  Pacific 
coast.    I  myself  would  prefer  the  Hotel  Del  Coro- 
nada,  at  San  Diego  for  beauty  of  architecture  and  gen- 
eral  attractiveness,  but  the  grounds  in  Monterey  are 
simply  incomparable  and  not  surpassed.    Nature  has 
done  wonders  in  the  way  of  large  pine  and  forest 
trees;  then  art  has  completed  the  land-scape  leaving 
little  if  anything  more  to  be  desired,  hundreds  of 
acres  are  beautified,  drives,  walks,  ponds,  flowers, 
lawn  tennis,  croquet  and  archery  grounds  are  to  be 
found  at  almost  every  turn,  and  quite  close  but  just 
back  of  some  high  banks  of  evergreens  is  the  great 
ocean,  with  its  beautiful  beach,  and  elegant  swimming 
baths.    These  baths  in  themselves  deserve  more 
than  a  passing  mention  but  I  fear  I  cannot  properly 
describe  their    attractiveness.    They  are  immense 
houses  with  glass  sides  and  roofs.    The  inside  is  ar- 
ranged  in  immense  baths  of  sea-water  of  different 
temperature  from  hot  to  quite  cold,  and  here  men,  wo- 
men  and  children  by  the  hundreds  are  swimming,  or 
trying  to.    The  water  is  heated  by  steam  and  is  from 
four  to  six  feet  deep.    The  walks  between  the  vats 
are  filled  with  mattings  and  dressing  rooms  are  quite 
convenient,  then  to  add  to  the  beauty  of  |the  place 
the  sides  of  the  building  are  covered  with  vines  and 
flowers  and  hundreds  of  tropical  plants  and  palm  trees 
are  arranged  along  the  various  walks.    There  are  sep- 


OUn  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 


39 


arate  baths  for  ladies  and  gentlemen  but  usually  they 
are  seen  occupying  the  same  vats.  When  everything 
is  taken  into  consideration  and  particularly  its  equa- 
bility of  temperature  and  healthfulness  of  climate 
Monterey  may  justly  be  termed  "The  queen  of  Amer- 
ican watering  places."  Monterey  was  founded  113 
years  ago  by  the  Franciscan  Missionaries,  whose  land- 
marks of  civilization  dot  the  Pacific  coast  here  and 
there  from  the  Mexican  border  to  San  Francisco,  It 
was  the  first  capital  of  California,  and  has  always  en- 
joyed the  reputation  of  being  one  of  the  most  health- 
ful, and  one  of  the  most  delightful  spots  in  the  state. 
There  is  probably  no  place  upon  the  sea  coast  in  Cal- 
ifornia so  replete  with  natural  charms  as  Monterey. 
Its  exquisite  beauty  and  variety  of  scenery  is  diversi- 
fied with  ocean,  bay,  lake  and  streamlet,  mountain, 
hill  and  valley,  and  groves  of  oak,  cypress,  spruce 
pine  and  other  trees.  The  mountain  views  are  very 
beautiful,  particularly  the  Santa  Cruz  spurs. 

It  seems  too  bad  that  when  once  finding  a  place 
so  lovely  and  so  exactly  suiting  our  ideal  of  beauty 
in  nature,  and  a  place  so  exactly  fitting  our  wants, 
we  should  be  obliged  to  tear  ourselves  away  and  flit 
to  other  points  less  agreeable;  but  the  whole  of  Cali- 
fornia was  not  in  Monterey  and  if  we  wished  to  see 
other  places,  we  dare  not  tarry  long  here.  We  made 
many  warm  friends  in  Santa  Cruz  and  were  very  loth 
to  leave  this  lovely  valley  and  our  friends,  but  wera 
obliged  to  do  so  Our  next  place  of  interest  was  not 
far  oflf.    This  was  San  J ose,  pronounced  ''san  ho-say." 


40 


OUR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 


It  is  the  county  seat  of  Santa  Clara  county  and  is 
located  at  about  the  geographical  center  of  the  valley, 
about  eight  miles  from  tide  water,  and  fifty  miles 
from  San  Francisco.    San  Jose  has  a  population  of 
about  twenty-five  thousand  people,  having  nearly 
doubled  her  population  within  six  years  and  with 
every  prospect  of  doubling  again  in  less  than  that 
period.    Here  we  found  electric  lights,  mountain 
water,  street  cars,  electric^ cars  and  several  lines  of 
steam  cars,  and  a  very  substantial  compact  city,  hav- 
ing more  good  schools,  colleges  and  churches  than 
any  city  of  its  size  visited.    The  country  near  the 
city  is  very  largely  planted  in  fruit  of  many  kinds- 
The  peach,  pear,  cherry,  apricot,  plum,  prune  and  all 
small  fruits  are  very  largely  grown.  Thousands 
of  acres  are  devoted  to  the  fruits  above  mentioned, 
and  large  canning  and  evaporating  houses  are  kept 
busy  during  the  season  caring  for  the  immense 
quantities  of  fruit  grown  in  this  valley.    San  Jose 
is  a  beautiful  city  and  deserves  much  more  mention 
than  I  can  give  it.    Its  beautiful  homes,  elegant  busi- 
ness blocks,  and  large  parks,  speak  for  the  thrift  and 
enterprise  of  its  people.  Our  principal  object  in  going 
to  San  Jose  was  to  visit  Mount  Hamilton,  or  the  Lick 
Observatory  which  is  located  upon  the  extreme  top  of 
Mount  Hamilton.    We  took  a  stage  about  six  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  and  were  soon  on  our  way.    The  first 
three  miles  of  travel  was  quite  level  or  having  a  very 
little  elevation,  the  driveway  is  lined  with  shade  trees 
upon  both  sides  and  the  road  bed  is  in  splendid  condi- 


OUR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA,  41 

tion;  then  we  struck  the  mountains  and  our  drive 
from  here  on  was  upward  and  onward  for  twenty - 
four  miles,  higher  and  higher,  sometimes  so  close 
to  the  edge  of  the  mountain,  we  could  lookout  of  the 
stage  window  down  steep  walls  of  rock  hundreds  of 
feet  below.  The  drive  is  considered  one  of  the  best 
mountain  drives  in  the  world,  and  was  built  by  the 
county  of  Santa  Clara  in  consideration  of  having  the 
observatory  located  here.  1  am  told  the  road  bed 
cost  over  eighty-five  thousand  dollars.  The  view  of 
the  valley  below  us  and  the  mountains  ahead  of  us  is 
simply  incomparable  and  must  be  seen  to  be  appre- 
ciated. The  road  reminded  me  of  an  immense  ser- 
pent twisting  around  and  around  the  same  mountain 
several  times  then  jumping  to  another  peak  and 
going  higher  and  higher  until  the  top  was  reached. 
We  were  from  6  A.  M.  nntil  3  p.  M.  making  this  long 
up  hill  trip.  We  made  the  same  distance  down 
grade  much  quicker.  When  the  top  was  reached 
we  found  one  of  the  finest  observatories  and  the  larg- 
est telescope  in  the  world.  Besides  the  building 
containing  the  telescope  there  are  quite  a  number  of 
houses,  some  for  dwellings  for  the  several  pro- 
fessors, some  for  workshops  and  the  numerous  instru- 
ments used.  We  found  much  that  was  quite  inter- 
esting, a  look  through  the  great  glass  being  one  of  the 
most  interesting  features.  I  was  told  by  one  of  the 
professors  that  the  building  as  a  whole  was  not  quite 
complete  and  had  cost  over  six  hundred  thousand 
dollars;  this  includes  buildings  and  instruments,  but 


42 


OVR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 


not  the  cost  of  constructing  the  road  from  San  Jose. 
This  wonderful  observatory  was  presented  to  the 
state  of  California  by  the  late  James  Lick,  a  wealthy 
capitalist  of  San  Francisco.  Mr.  Lick  made  an  im- 
mense fortune  in  California  by  the  advance  in  real 
estate  and  took  this  grand  manner  of  disposing  of 
some  of  it,  as  he  was  a  bachelor  and  had  no  near  kin 
to  be  benefited  financially  by  his  death.  His  body 
rests  under  the  great  glass  and  is  covered  with  tons 
and  tons  of  iron  frame  work  supporting  the  glass. 
To  properly  describe  the  various  glasses,  the  view 
from  the  top  of  Mount  Hamilton  and  the  drive  home 
would  take  hours  of  hard  work  besides  fill  several 
books  and  probably  tire  the  reader.  To  be  fully  ap- 
preciated it  must  be  seen  and  I  would  heartily  re- 
commend all  visitors  to  California  not  by  any  means 
to  overlook  this  place  of  so  much  national  interest. 
The  ride  alone  up  and  from  the  mountain  top  is 
quite  worth  a  day's  time  and  the  fare.  Our  next  city 
and  place  of  much  interest  was  the  great  metropolis 
of  California  and  the  Pacific  Coast. 


/ 


SAN  FEANCISCO. 

The  general  attractiveness  of  San  Francisco  is 
so  widely  known  as  to  render  needless  any  detailed 
remarks  in  its  behalf.  It  is  without  doubt  one  of 
the  most  picturesque  of  American  cities  and  is  in 
itself  a  pleasure  resort  as  well  as  being  the  metropo- 
lis  of  the  Pacific  coast.  Here  we  saw  the  most  per- 
fect system  of  cable  car  service,  in  fact  no  other  ser- 
vice could  mount  the  steep  grades  of  many  of  the 
streets.  San  Francisco  is  situated  upon  a  bay  of  the 
same  name  and  faces  the  east,  leaving  several  miles 
of  sand  hills  between  the  city  and  the  ocean.  The 
bay  is  about  twelve  miles  wide  and  over  one  hundred 
long  north  and  south',  and  is  reached  by  vessels 
passing  through  a  narrow  neck  of  water  called  the 
Golden  Gate.  How  the  immense  body  of  water  ever 
forces  its  way  through  the  narrow  space  to  raise  the 
entire  bay  several  feet  in  height  during  high  tide  is 
a  mystery  to  me. 

After  securing  a  suite  of  rooms  in  the  central  part 


U  OUJR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 

of  the  city  we  were  soon  ready  for  our  first  tour  of 
exploration.  We  visited  the  Palace  Hotel,  the  larg- 
est and  finest  in  the  city.  This  occupies  three 
acres  of  land  and  like  all  first  class  hotels  is  furnished 
without  regard  to  cost.  From  here  we  next  went  to 
the  United  States  mint;  this  was  closed  for  annual 
settlement  and  we  did  not  see  g^old  coined,  but  we 
saw  thousands  of  valuable  coins,  rare  and  antique? 
we  also  saw  a  gold  teaspoon  said  to  have  once  graced 
the  iahle  de  hote  of  King  Solomon.  Oar  next  visit 
was  to  Chinatown,  a  part  of  the  city  entirely  given 
ever  to  the  Mongolian  race  and  is  said  to  contain 
forty  thousand  of  these  queer  people.  They  have 
their  markets,  shops,  theaters,  joss-houses  and  seem 
to  be  prosperiDg.  A  great  many  stores  contain  many 
cjariosities  andraie  specimens  of  ivory  carving,  and 
if  you  should  wish  to  buy  any  of  these,  you  would  be 
surprised  at  the  low  prices,  as  compared  with  the 
same  class  of  goods  in  the  city  stores.  TVo  also  saw 
many  beautiful  pieces  of  copper  and  bronze  vases — 
placques,  also  hundreds  of  vases  made  in  Setsuma, 
Japan,  and  considered  rare.  We  had  heard  of  people 
being  killed  and  robbed  in  Chinatown.  I  must  say 
we  were  treated  quite  otherwise  as  we  were  neither 
killed  or  robbed  unless  it  was  a  wilful  inclination  to 
give  fancy  prices  for  goods  bought  We  were  treat- 
ed quite  courteously,  shown  whatever  we  wished  to 
see.  This  was  in  broad  daylight.  At  night  parties 
frequently  visit  the  gambling  and  opium  dens  and 
report  them  hard  in  the  extreme,  but  I  fancy  should 


OUR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA.  45 


tlie  same  people  visit  the  gambling  and  other  dens  of 
the  white  folks  not  far  from  Chinatown  they  would 
not  find  much  difference  between  white  and  yellow 
m  en  in  regard  to  vice.  The  Chinese  are  a  hard  work- 
ing class  of  people,  do  cheerfully  and  well,  any  small 
service  that  other  classes  refuse  to  do,  or  if  done  at 
all,  is  done  poorly  and  exhorbitant  prices  asked.  The 
great  objection  to  the  Chinese  by  the  people  of  Cal- 
ifornia  is  because  of  their  not  becoming  citizens  and 
taking  all  the  money  from  American  labor  and  send- 
ing it  to  China;  also  their  habit  of  living  is  repulsive 
to  the  American  and  it  is  considered  best  to  exclude 
them  entirely,  as  th«ir  object  is  not  to  benefit  Ameri- 
ca but  China. 

We  next  went  to  Woodward's  gardens  in  the 
w^est  part  of  the  city.  This  is  a  sort  of  park,  museum, 
menagerie,  aquarium  and  music  hall  combined, 
should  one  place  grow  tiresome  the  next  is  sure  to 
please.  Beautiful  flowers,  rare  plants,  followed  by 
great  bears,  lions,  monkeys  and  other  animals,  then 
the  stuffed  birds  and  animals  too  numerous  to  men- 
tion, followed  by  music  and  beer  if  you  wish,  all  go 
to  make  up  the  attractiveness  of  the  place.  A  day  could 
be  very  pleasantly  spent  here,  ''not  drinking  beer" 
but  studying  the  u^onderful  things  upon  exhibition. 

Our  next  place  of  interest  was  the  Golden  Gate 
park.  In  going  there  we  passed  over  Nobb  Hill,  so 
called  because  many  of  California's  millionaires  re- 
side here.  The  residences  are  like  all  expensive 
homes,  grand.    San  Francisco  as  a  city  does  not  con- 


46  OUR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 


tain  many  very  elegant  homes,  most  of  the  houses 
are  frame,  built  quite  close  to  the  streets,  and  we 
sadly  missed  the  blue-grass  lawns  so  familiar  in 
eastern  cities.  One  feature  you  see  until  you  tire  of 
ill  the  architecture  of  the  homes,  and  that  is  the  craze 
for  bay  windows.  Every  one  or  two  story  shanty  has 
them,  in  fact  you  see  bay  windows  at  every  turn,  on 
business  houses,  hotels  and  residences.  The  city 
looks  as  though  one  architect  had  planned  the  entire 
city,  and  he  had  a  passion  for  bay  windows.  We 
found  the  Golden  Gate  park  very  similar  to  other 
parks,  with  this  difference,  the  ground  had  been  all 
reclaimed  from  sand-dunes.  It  contains  over  one 
thousand  acres  and  quite  a  large  portion  is  now  beau- 
tifully planted  in  trees  and  flowers,  and  has  the  usual 
drives,  artificial  lakes  etc.,  found  in  all  well  kept  city 
parks. 

From  the  Golden  Gate  park  we  went  to  the  Cliff 
House,  situated  upon  some  great  rocks  overhanging 
the  Pacific  ocean.  The  view  is  grand  from  the  bal- 
conies, and  one  great  feature  is  to  watch  the  sea-lions 
as  they  play  among  the  rocks  quite  close  to  the  hotel; 
there  are  hundreds  of  these  great  animals  rolling 
about  and  crawling  over  each  other  or  diving  from 
the  rocks.  This  place  is  quite  worth  seeing,  the  ho- 
tel is  good,  and  should  you  choose  to  spend  more  than 
one  day  here  you  would  find  first  class  accommoda- 
tions. Another  point  of  interest,  quite  close  to  the 
Cliff  House,  is  the  Siitro  Heights.  This  is  situated 
upon  the  top  of  the  cliffs,   and  consists  of  a 


OUR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 


47 


series  of  flower  gardens  and  walks.    The  flowers 
and  statuary  are  quite  fine,  the  grounds  beautiful  and 
the  view  from  the  gardens  perfect.    Here  we  saw 
statuary  of  nearly  all  the  great  gods  and  goddesses 
in  all  their  natural  loveliness.    It  would  be  well  to 
hunt  up  your  Greek  mythology  before  visiting  these 
gardens,  or  you  might  not  quite  understand  the  dif- 
ferent figures.    Another  day  we  spent  in  Oakland. 
This  place  is  just  across  the  bay  from  San  Francisco; 
steam  ferries  run  every  hour.    This  city  has  about 
sixty  thousand  people,  and  is  the  place  of  residence 
of  many  people  doing  business  in  San  Francisco.  It 
is  considered  a  much  more  desirable  place  for  resi- 
dence than  San  Francisco.    After  dinner  at  one  of 
the  best  hotels,  we  were  driven  around  the  city,  and 
many  miles  in  the  country,  saw  many  beautiful  homes 
having  large  grounds,  and  further  out  saw  many 
small  farms  devoted  to  fruit  culture.    The  cherry 
especially  is  grown  very  successfully  near  here 
as  well  as  most  other  fruits.     The  country  in 
this  part  of  California  is  well  watered,  rains  are  more 
frequent  and  irrigation  not  so  necessary  as  in  south- 
ern California.    Another  day  we  spent  shopping  and 
going  through  Taber's  art  rooms.    Here  we  saw  pho- 
tographs  of  most  of  the  leading  people  of  Europe 
and  America  as  well  as  views  of  the  most  beautiful, 
grand  and  romantic  scenery  in  the  United  States;  of 
course  the  views  were  for  sale. 

Our  next  trip  was  quite  a  long  one  and  quite 
tiresome  but  it  fully  repaid  our  efforts  and  expense; 


48  OUB  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 


this  was  a  visit  to  the  geysers.  The  geysers  are 
situated  near  Cloverdale,  about  one  hundred  miles 
north  of  San  Francisco.  We  took  a  ferry  boat  from 
the  city  across  the  bay  to  Tiperon,  and  here  we  took 
the  steam  cars  to  Cloverdale,  and  after  a  most 
wretched  dinner  here  we  took  stage  up  the  moun- 
tains for  sixteen  miles  over  the  most  horrible  and 
dangerous  looking  ledges  and  break-neck  places  imag- 
inable. Our  stage  was  full  inside  and  out,  the  top 
was  covered  by  men  and  women,  how  they  hung  on 
over  such  roads  is  beyond  my  comprehension  as  pas- 
sengers inside  the  hack  are  frequently  strapped  in  to 
prevent  them  from  falling  all  over  the  hack,  or  one 
another.  To  add  to  our  general  misery  the  driver 
relieved  our  curiosity  by  pointing  out  places  where 
the'  stage  sometime  -before  had  been  robbed,  and 
where  some  men  had  been  shot;  all  very  interesting 
to  read  about,  but  when  we  were  not  certain  but  what 
the  scene  might  be  repeated  we  were  not  so  much 
enthused.  To  a  lover  of  the  sublime,  picturesque 
and  romantic  I  know  of  no  drive  to  be  compared 
to  this  mountain  drive.  A  four  horse  stage  whirling 
around  bends  in  the  road  with  one  wheel  close  to 
the  edge  of  a  precipice  hundreds  of  f^et  deep  witii 
the  prospect  of  stage  robbers  ahead,  and  scenery 
beyond  description  is  quite  enough  to  charm  the 
most  fastidious.  But  when  we  reached  the  hotel  and 
geysers  we  were  fully  repaid  for  the  day's  travel. 
The  hotel  was  situated  in  the  forest  at  the  foot  of  a 
mountain  quite  close  to  a  clear,  rapid  running  stream. 


t)UR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA,  m 

The  rooms  were  cool  and  clean  having  bare  floors 
with  skins  of  wild  animals  scattered  around,  large 
open,  fire  places,  fine  pianos,  and  a  table  loaded  with 
all  the  luxuries  of  the  season.  We  enjoyed  the  quiet 
after  our  visit  in  the  city  and  our  rest  here  was  rest 
indeed*  The  geysers  are  a  number  of  hot  springs 
where  the  whole  district  seems  to  be  undergoing  some 
chemical  change  or  the  heat  from  some  volcano  is  so 
near  the  surface  it  throws  the  steam  from  the  moun* 
tain  sides  like  a  tremendous  steam  engine;  water 
boils  and  hisses  as  if  mad,  the  ground  is  quite  hot  in 
places,  and  quite  soft  and  hollow  sounding  as  if  it 
was  not  far  to  a  hotter  place.  We  were  quite  satis^ 
fied  with  a  surface  view  and  did  not  care  to  investi*- 
gate  deeper.  Springs  of  clear  water  run  side  by  side 
with  streams  of  black  and  yellow  water^  some  hot 
enough  to  cook  an  egg  in  a  few  minutes,  and  others 
quite  cold  not  far  off,  all  goto  make  the  place  quite 
interesting.  Some  of  the  steam  from  some  hot 
springs  is  brought  to  a  large  bath  house  where  hot 
steam  baths  along  with  plunge  baths  are  to  be  had; 
these  are  called  sulphur  baths,  the  steam  coming 
from  sulphur  springs.  These  we  all  tried  as  we  were 
very  much  in  need  of  some  sort  of  a  bath  after  our 
long,  dusty  ride.  After  our  baths  we  slept  splen- 
didly, and  thought  the  geysers  and  this  part  of  Califor- 
nia the  most  delightful  yet  found,  and  regretted  our 
inability  to  remain  longer  than  one  day.  We  returned 
over  the  same  mountain  road  for  sixteen  miles, 
and  thence  by  rail  to  San  Francisco.    There  were 


50  OUR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 

many  other  places  of  interest  in  and  around  San 
Francisco  that,  had  we  not  felt  somewhat  pressed  for 
time,  we  should  have  visited.  But  for  the  time  we 
were  there,  we  put  in  nearly  every  hour  to  good  ad- 
vantage and  thoroughly  enjoyed  the  time.  The  cli- 
mate while  we  were  there  was  perfect,  not  hot,  not 
cold,  no  storms,  only  perpetual  sunshine,  and  agree- 
able every  way. 


THE  RETUEN  JOUENEY. 

On  tlie  tliird  oi  Jtily  we  turned  our  faces  towards 
the  rising  sun  and  left  San  Francisco,  tlie  ocean  and 
the  bay,  and  I  fear  the  delightful  climate,  behind  us 
and  never  once  left  our  sleeper  until  we  reached  Salt 
Lake  City.  We  saw  nothing  but  mountains  and  des- 
erts. After  once  getting  out  of  California,  we  saw 
no  place  where  we  felt  like  planting  a  vine  and  fig 
tree.  The  scenery  was  all  well  enough  but  that  doeis 
not  sustain  life  long  alone,  consequently  the  country 
is  very  thinly  settled  except  in  mining  regions. 

SALT  LAKE  CITt 

A  place  of  probably  forty  thousand  people,  is  sit- 
uated at  the  north  end  of  the  beautiful  Salt  Lake 
valley  and  about  eighteen  miles  from  the  lake,  and 
is  about  4,000  feet  above  sea  level.  It  is  on  the 
southern  slope  of  a  spur  from  the  Wasatch  mountains 
where  the  waters  of  Clear  Creek,  a  clear  mountain 
stream,  have  formed  a  semicircular  elevation  gradu- 
ally shading  into  the  valley  below.    The  city  ptoper 

IIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILUNOIS 


52  OUR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 

lies  on  this  rise,  being  two  miles  wide  and  tliree  and 
one  half  long.    From  the  lower  southern  wards,  the 
land  rises  gently  northward  140  feet  to  Brigham 
street,  where  a  steep  bench  lifts  the  rest  of  the  city 
above  the  tops  of  houses  below,  making  the  finest 
sites  for  residences  and  giving  a  magnificent  view  of 
the  whole  valley  below,  as  well  as  the  lake  and  moun- 
tains.   The  city  is  laid  out  in  squares,  the  streets  are 
one  hundred  feet  wide,  having  sixteen  foot  side-walks 
on  each  side,  rows  of  shade  trees  are  planted  along 
the  outside  of  the  walks  where  gutters  carry  the 
sparkling  mountain  water  in  all  directions,  all  sum- 
mer long,  keeping  the  trees  thrifty  and  purifying  all 
within  their  reach.    The  city  has  water  works,  elec- 
tric and  gas  lights,  horse  cars,  which  will  soon  be 
replaced  with  cable  or  electric  cars,  telephones  and 
several  lines  of  steam  cars,  good  hotels,  excellent 
schools  and  well  attended  churches.    The  climate  of 
Utah  is  not  a  panacea  for  all  the  ills  that  flesh  is  heir 
to,  but  it  commends  itself  to  reason  that  a  climate  di- 
rectly the  opposite  of  a  humid  one  will  relieve  or 
cure  most  of  its  maladies.    On  the  other  hand  the 
powerful  stimulus  given  to  the  system,  of  pure  air 
and  high  altitude,  and  the  invigorating  effect  of  the 
late  fall  and  short  winters  are  in  great  contrast  with 
the  long  and  severe  winters  of  the  east.    The  Utah 
people  in  commenting  upon  the  even  and  admirable 
climate  of  southern  California  make  this  hit:   A  cli- 
mate where  there  is  no  difference  between  Christmas 
and  fourth  of  July,  where  every  day  is  like  every  other 


OUR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA.  53 

day  except  for  dust,  is  a  first  class  place  to  die  in, 
but  to  live  we  want  a  climate  that  will  stir  up 
our  energies,  that  will  bring  out  all  our  pow- 
ers and  keep  us  alive  and  aggressive  without  making 
us  suffer  because  of  its  rigor.  This  is  claimed  in 
Utah.  Salt  Lake  City  is  splendidly  situated  to  be- 
come  one  of  the  largest  inland  western  cities;  sur- 
rounded  by  a  splendid  agricultural  and  mineral  coun- 
try,  having  no  near  rivals,  it  has  already  built  up  a 
large  trade.  It  is  the  only  city  of  any  size  between 
Denver  and  San  Francisco,  a  distance  of  over  1,500 
miles;  has  no  rival  north  or  south.  The  value  of  mines 
near  Salt  Lake  is  placed  at  about  fifty  million  dollars. 
The  assessed  value  of  Salt  Lake  county  is  twenty-two 
million  dollars,  the  real  value  about  fifty  million 
dollars,  besides  the  mines.  Utah  has  the  finest 
marble  and  granite  found  in  the  west.  In  so 
short  a  sketch  of  Salt  Lake  City  it  is  impossible  to 
do  justice  to  its  inhabitants,  its  soil,  its  minerals,  its 
resorts,  its  temples  and  tabernacles.  Nothing  short 
of  an  entire  volume  could  half  describe  the  many  at- 
tractive features  of  this  wonderful  place. 

The  Mormons,  a  peculiar  religious  people,  first 
settled  in  Salt  Lake  Valley.  These  people,  who  call 
themselves  Latter  Day  Saints,  are  followers  of  Joseph 
Smith.  Smith  was  the  son  of  a  farmer  in  Vermont, 
and  when  about  ten  years  old  his  parents  removed  to 
New  York  State.  From  his  early  years  he  was  re- 
garded as  a  visionary  and  fanatic.  It  is  not  neces- 
sary to  relate  his  visions  and  finding  of  the  Book  of 


54 


OVR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 


Mormon,  or  his  persecutions;  he  was  the  founder  of 
the  Mormon  church,  and  was  shot  injail  at  Carthage, 
IlL,  in  1844.    After  his  death  the  Twelve  Apostles 
with  Brigham  Young  at  their  head  took  the  lead  of 
the  Saints.    They  found  the  climate  of  Illinois  too 
hot  for  them  and  in  1847  started  for  the  Eocky  moun- 
tains.   They  arrived  in  Salt  Lake  Valley  July  24 
1847.    Some  of  the  early  migrations  were  performed 
on  foot  by  great  companies  of  men  and  women,  whose 
effects  were  carried  in  hand  carts.    In  several  in- 
stances the  people  suffered  exceedingly  from  cold  and 
exposure.    Their  faith  never  failed.    The  cheerful- 
ness, intelligence  and  zeal  exhibited  on  all  sides  were 
truly  admirable.    It  would  be  unfair  to  shut  our  eyes 
to  the  many  excellent  traits  of  the  Mormons  and 
open  them  only  to  see  their  vices,  the  greatest  of 
which  is  polygamy.   -The  Mormons  deserve  great 
credit  for  the  manner  they  pursue  in  settling  a  new 
country.    They  all  work  together  for  one  purpose, 
all  under  one  church  and  succeed  remarkably  well  in 
building  great  temples  and  good  cities  which  are  a 
monument  to  their  untiring  zeaL    As  to  the  Mor- 
mons themselves,  as  a  class,  I  can  only  quote  Judge 
Anderson's  opinion.  He  says  the  Mormon  church  is 
and  always  has  been  a  treasonable  organization  in  its 
teachings,  and  in  its  practice  hostile  to  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  disobedient  to  its  laws,  and 
seeking  its  overthrow;  and  that  the  oath  adminis- 
tered to  its  members  in  theEndowment  House  binds 
them  under  penalty  of  death  to  implicitly  obey,  in 


OUR  TEIP  TO  CALIFOmiA, 


m 


all  things  temporal  as  well  as  spiritual,  the  Priest- 
hood,  and  to  avenge  the  death  of  the  prophets, 
Joseph  and  Hiram  Smith,  upon  the  government  and 
people  of  the  United  States.  Ex-Lieiit.  Gov.  Robert- 
son, of  Indiana,  further  says,  obedience,  implicit  obe- 
dience  is  demanded  in  all  things  secnlar,  as  well  as 
spiritual,  and  is  generally  yielded  with  complete  sub- 
mission. The  reason  is,  their  belief  is  founded  up- 
on one  of  the  dreariest  and  at  the  same  time  one  of 
the  silliest  books  ever  printed,  the  Book  of  Mor- 
mon, and  upon  the  pnerile  and  silly,  pretended  rev- 
elations, said  by  them  to  have  been  delivered  to 
Joseph  Smith  and  other  prophets,  and  revelations  by 
the  Almighty  in  person.  They  claim  the  Book  to  be 
infallibly  translated  and  say  the  Bible  is  not. 

While  in  Salt  Lake  City  we  met  some  Wichita 
friends.  One  gentleman  was  spending  the  summer 
here  for  his  health  and  was  very  enthusiastic  about 
results  derived  from  a  very  short  trial.  One  after- 
noon he  drove  us  all  around  the  city,  where  we  had 
an  excellent  opportunity  to  see  the  various  points  of 
interest,  chief  of  which  are  the  works  of  the  Mormons. 
The  Temple  comes  first  in  point  of  interest.  This  is 
made  entirely  of  grey  granite,  is  186  feet  long  99  feet 
wide  aod  100  feet  high,  exclusive  of  the  towers  which 
are  220  feet  high;  the  walls  are  ten  feet  wide  at 
the  base  and  five  feet  at  the  top.  The  Temple  was 
begun  in  1853  and  will  not  be  completed  for  several 
years,  it  has  already  cost  nearly  three  million  dollars. 
The  Tabernacle  comes  next  in  order.    This  stands 


56  OUR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 

on  the  same  block  and  was  finished  in  1867.  It  is 
250  feet  long,  150  wide  and  80  feet  high  and  is  used 
as  the  general  assembly  hall  of  the  Mormons;  the 
seating  capacity  is  about  eight  thousand.  The  roof 
has  no  supports,  save  at  the  bottom;  the  acoustics 
are  almost  perfect,  a  pin  dropped  near  the  pulpit  can 
be  heard  fall  at  the  other  end  of  the  hall  about  250  feet 
off.  The  organ  in  the  tabernacle  is  considered,  with 
one  exception,  the  finest  in  the  United  States.  It  is  48 
feet  high,  33  feet  wide  containing  57  stops;  there 
are  2,648  pipes  and  it  cost  $100,000.  It  is  considered 
a  rare  treat  to  hear  this  grand  organ  Sundays.  The 
building  is  heated  by  steam  and  lighted  by  gas.  We 
next  saw  the  tithing  yards  where  tithes  are  paid  and 
new  converts  collected.  Passing  further  east  we  next 
saw  the  Lion  House,  the  head  quarters  of  the  church; 
the  Bee  Hive  house,  Brigham  Young's  residence, 
now  used  as  a  rail  road  office ;  across  the  street  stands 
the  Amelia  Palace,  lately  the  residence  of  the  head 
of  the  Mormon  church;  a  little  further  out  and  just 
on  the  brow  of  the  hill  is  Brigham  Young's  grave, 
and  as  this  is  a  good  place  to  leave  him  we  will  quit 
the  Mormons  and  turn  to  other  livelier  scenes. 

Outside  of  the  city  one  of  the  greatest  attractions 
for  tourists  and  visitors,  as  well  as  residents,  is  the 
Great  Salt  Lake.  The  Great  Salt  Lake  is  a  mysterious 
inland  sea,  which  more  than  any  other  body  of  water 
on  the  globe  has  created  and  left  unsatisfied  the 
curiosity  of  mankind.  Its  dead,  dreamy,  silent,  tide- 
less,  slumbering  waters  are  still  an  enigma.  Our 


OUR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA.  57 


purpose  in  visiting  the  lake  was  to  take  a  bath,  a 
much  needed  affair  after  a  dusty  ride  of  eighteen 
miles  from  the  city.  Steam  cars  leave  the  city  several 
times  daily  for  the  lake  and  are  general  crowded  dur- 
ing the  bathing  season  which  lasts  from  June  1  to 
October  15.  Bathing  in  Salt  Lake  is  one  of  the 
most  delightful  recreations  possible;  the  water  is  so 
haavy  (nearly  20  per  cent,  salt)  that  a  person  cannot 
sink  in  it.  As  one  walks  out  into  deep  water,  he  finds 
himself  growing  lighter  and  lighter,  till  when  he  is 
up  to  his  arm  pits  he  ceases  to  weigh  anything,  his 
toes  are  helpless  for  locomotion  in  the  ordinary  way, 
and  a  little  further  out  he  is  lifted  entirely  off  his 
feet  and  floats  upright  with  his  head,  neck  and  tip 
of  the  shoulders  out  of  water  without  any  exertion 
on  his  part;  here  it  is  necessary  to  use  some  caution 
as  one's  feet  are  determined  to  see  the  surface  of  the 
lake  and  when  they  succeed  it  is  quite  difficult  to  get 
them  bacir  in  their  proper  position.  It  was  very 
amusing  to  see  the  vast  crowds  of  people  of  all  ages 
and  sizes  in  bathing,  many  for  the  first  time;  those 
who  found  their  feet  floating  and  could  not  get  them 
down  presented  quite  a  laughable  spectacle,  more 
enjoyed  by  the  spectators  than  the  participator.  Of 
all  delightful  places  for  bathing  I  have  so  far  tried 
I  must  award  the  prize  to  Salt  Lake.  The  water  at 
Crarfield  beach  is  very  clear  and  the  bottom  of  the 
lake  covered  with  soft,  white  sand.  A  brass  band 
furnishes  music  while  bathers  are  enjoying  the  water. 


VI. 


DENVER  &  EIO  GRANDE  RAILROAD. 

Leaving  Salt  Lake  City  we  took  the  Denver  A 
Rio  Grande  railroad  for  Denver.  This  is  called  the 
Scenic  Line  of  the  world.  The  scenery  is  too  grand 
by  far  to  admit  of  description.  Before,  we  had  cli- 
mate,  bay,  flowers,  f rait,  cities  and  people,  with  Salt 
Lake  thrown  in.  Now  for  hundreds  of  miles  we  have 
no  flowers,  no  fruit,  no  cities,  few  people,— nothing 
but  rocks  and  rills,  but  by  far  the  greater  number  of 
rocks;  small  rocks,  large  rocks,  tall  rocks,  short  rocks, 
red  rocks  and  black  rocks.  In  fact  it  was  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  and  we  fully  began  to  understand  why  it 
was  called  the  Great  Rocky.  Had  I  ten  thousand 
tongues,  luckily  for  my  nearest  friends  I  have  not,  I 
might  devote  them  all  singing  the  praise  of  the  Scenic 
Road  of  the  world,  provided,  of  course,  the  compensa- 
tion was  equal  to  the  wear  and  tear  of  the  tongues. 

The  first  point  of  special  .interest  was  called  Cas- 
tle Gates.    It  should  be  called  Gate  Posts,  as  the 


OVR  TRIP  TO  CALIFOBJSIIA. 


59 


gate  is  gone  and  only  the  posts  remain.  These 
posts  are,  two  huge  pillars  or  ledges  of  the  rock; 
they  are  of  different  heights,  one  measuring  five  hun- 
dred and  the  other  four  hundred  and  fifty  feet  from 
top  to  base.  They  are  richly  dyed  with  red  and  the 
firs  and  pines  growing  about  them  render  this  col- 
oring more  noticeable  and  beautiful.  Between  these 
two  sharp  promontories,  which  are  separated  only  by 
a  narrow  space,  the  river  and  railroad  both  run,  one 
pressing  closely  against  the  other.  Once  past  the 
the  gate,  and  looking  back,  the  bold  head-lands  form- 
ing it,  have  a  new  and  more  attractive  beauty.  They 
are  higher  and  more  massive,  it  seems,  than  they  were 
in  their  shadow.  After  several  hundred  miles  of 
beautiful  scenery,  we  concluded  not  to  travel  by  night 
at  all  but  stop  off  at  some  hotel  and  continue  our 
journey  the  next  day.  Our  first  stop  was  at  Green 
Eiver.  Here  we  found  a  most  excellent  hotel  fur- 
nished elegantly,  having  electric  lights  and  water 
in  every  room,  the  lawn  was  quite  large  and  very 
beautiful,  having  a  good  blue-grass  sod.  This  place 
looks  like  a  very  small  oasis  upon  a  very  large 
desert,  as,  for  miles  in  every  direction,  nothing  can 
be  seen  but  sand  and  rocks.  The  next  morning  we 
were  up  quite  early  and  walked  down  to  Green  river 
where  we  had  heard  agates  were  to  be  found.  We 
found  a  large,  yellow  looking  stream  flowing  through 
beds  of  sand,  but  no  moss  agates.  We  were  over  one- 
half  a  mile  from  the  station  when  we  heard  our  train 
whistle.    We  had  barely  time  to  retrace  our  steps, 


60  OUR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 

eat  a  five  minute  breakfast,  and  jump  aboard.  The 
next  day  we  were  provided  with  observation  cars, 
when  passing  over  the  more  interesting  parts  of  the 
road.    The  most  beautiful,  sublime,  imposing,  and 
awful  view  next  presented  was  the  Black  canon.  For 
miles  along  this  ^rand  gorge  the  railway  lies  upon  a 
shelf  that  has  been  blasted  in  the  solid  walls  of  God's 
masonry,  walls  that  stand  there  two  thousand  feet  in 
height  and  so  close  together  that  for  most  of  the  dis- 
tance  through  the  canon,  only  a  streak  of  sky,  s6me. 
times  in  broad  daylight  spangled  with  stars,  is  seen 
above.    Some  poet  has  said:  "I'll  look  no  more,  lest 
my  brain  turn."    It  is  just  as  well  to  keep  cool  and 
not  throw  yoiiir  hats  away  as  some  gentlemen  did,  they 
were   overcome,  and  beside  themselves  with  over 
enthusiasm.    The  scenery  will  keep,  and  if  you  do 
not  lose  your  brain  you  can  visit  it  the  second  time; 
like  most  good  things  it  will  admit  of  a  second  obser- 
vation.    The  scene  is  constantly  changmg;  the  great 
black  walls  sometimes  widen,  then  grow  closer  leav- 
ing barely  room  for  the  river  and  railroad  bed;  now  at 
a  sharp  turn,  Ghippeta  Falls,  a  stream  of  liquid  crys- 
tal,  pitches  from  the  top  of  the  dizzy  cliffs  to  the 
bosom  of  the  sparkling  river,  which  dashes  beside 
the  road.    Next  we  pass  a  towering  monument  of  solid 
stone  which  reaches  to  where  it  flaunts  the  eloads 
like  some  great  cathedral  spire.    Truly,  for  grandeur 
and  variety  in  scenery,  the  Black  canon  of  the  Gun- 
nison has  no  equal.    The  next  night  we  stopped  off  at 
Gunnison.    We  put  up  at  the  La  Veta  hotel,  one  of 


OUE  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 


61 


the  most  magnificent  in  the  state  of  Colorado,  costing 
about  $225,000.  The  country  around  Gunnison 
abounds  in  game,  the  clear  streams  are  full  of  fish, 
the  scenery  is  grand,  the  air  cool  and  clear.  Mines 
of  silver,  copper,  lead  and  coal  are  found  in  the  vicin- 
ity and  smelters  have  been  erected  to  treat  the  ores. 
The  next  morning  we  were  up  early  and  on  our  way 
to  see  fresh  lots  of  scenery,  in  fad  there  is  nothing 
else  to  see,  and  i£  one  does  not  enjoy  the  grand  and 
beautiful  in  nature  he  would  have  a  dreary  time  along 
this  route. 

Our  next  point  of  great  interest  along  this  road 
was  Marshall  Pass.  If  description  beggars  common 
humanity  in  trying  to  describe  how  w^e  get  through 
deep  gorges,  left  open  purposely  for  some  enterpris- 
ing railroad  company  to  lay  its  tracks,  how  can  I  de- 
scribe the  manner  in  which  we  got  over  this  immense 
mountain,  nearly  eleven  thousand  feet  high,  having 
no  gorges  to  pass  through.  The  train  just  simply 
began  climbing  and  kept  it  up,  working  like  a  hero, 
until  we  were  upon  the  top  of  this  awful  grade.  It 
is  a  question  whether  the  beautiful  scenery  we  behold 
when  once  on  top  of  the  mountain  is  more  to  be  ad- 
mired  than  the  engineering  skill  displayed  in  laying 
track  and  running  engines  to  such  a  height,  up  such 
steep  grades.  Commencing  at  the  foot  of  the  moun- 
tain we  wind  around  and  around,  higher  and  higher, 
zigzagiDg  across  to  higher  heights,  then  off  on  to 
another  spur,  and  up  again.  Some  places  in  looking 
back  and  down  we  can  behold  the  road  bed  in  four 


62 


OVR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 


different  places  beneath  us,  terrace  above  terrace. 
All  this  time  as  we  climb  higher  and  higher,  the  Tiew 
becomes  more  extensive,  the  air  colder  and  colder 
until  we  are  in  the  region  of  perpetual  snow.  In  July 
it  was  quite  comfortable,  how  it  would  be  in  January 
can  be  better  imagined  than  described.  At  last  we 
are  on  the  top  of  this  great  mountain,  our  engines 
puff  and  pant  like  some  exhausted  animal.  Oh,  how 
they  did  work  going  up  grade,  they  seemed  almost 
human  in  their  efforts  to  get  there  safely;  then  after 
a  rest,  and  breathing  spell,  we  started  down  grade- 
Here  you  want  to  shut  your  eyes  and  not  think  what 
the  consequences  would  be  if  a  rail  was  displaced  or 
our  engine  took  a  notion  to  jump  the  track;  after  the 
first  sensations  were  over  you  would  never  know  what 
hurt  you.  We  were  glad  when  once  safely  down  and 
on  something  like  a  level  track  once  more.  After 
traveling  nearly  one  whole  day  through  scenery,  that 
in  any  other  state  than  Colorado  would  be  considered 
wonderful  and  grand,  we  at  last  came  to  the  crowning 
wonder.  This  is  called  the  Royal  Gorge,  and  is  situ- 
ated between  Canon  City  and  Salida,  and  is  of  easy 
access  either  from  Denver  or  Pueblo.  To  describe 
this  canon  is  impossible.  If  you  can  imagine  a  solid 
wall  over  one  thousand  feet  high  on  each  side  of  a 
very  narrow  ravine  with  scarcely  room  for  the  river 
and  railroad  to  run  side  by  side,  after  places  where 
tons  and  hundreds  of  tons  of  solid  rock  overhang  the 
track,  looking  as  if  once  let  loose  nothing  would  suit 
them  better  than  to  fall  and  crush  our  train  and  pas- 


OUB  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 


63 


sengers  to  atoms,  you  may  have  a  slight  idea  of  the 
gorge;  but  as  for  shapes  and  coloring  this  immense 
pile  takes  on  at  every  turn,  I  must  leave  for  artists  to 
finish.    This  much  from  our  Guide : 

"Now,  what  glories  of  rock  piling  confront  the 
wide  distended  eye.  How  those  sharp-edged  cliffs 
standing  with  upright  heads,  that  play  at  hand  ball 
with  the  clouds,  alternate  with  one  another,  so  that 
first  the  right,  then  the  left,  then  the  right  one  beyond 
strike  our  view;  each  one  half  obscured  by  its  fellow 
in  front;  each  showing  itself  level  browed  with 
its  companions,  as  we  came  even  with  it,  each 
a  score  of  hundreds  of  dizzy  feet  in  height  rising  per- 
pendicular from  water  and  track,  splintered  atop  into 
airy  pinnacles,  braced  behind  against  the  almost  con- 
tinual mass  through  which  the  chasm  has  been  cl«ft. 
This  is  Eoyal  Gorge." 

From  the  Boyal  Gorge  we  went  directly  to  Col- 
orado Springs  and  then  on  to  Manitou.  Manitou  is 
the  ideal  summer  resort,  or  the  guide  book  says  so. 
We  found  the  mercury  standing  at  110  o  Fahrenheit 
in  the  shade.  Just  after  leaving  the  coast  where 
overcoats  and  flannels  were  in  demand  we  rather 
doubted  this  assertion  of  our  otherwise  reliable  Guide. 
We  soon  threw  flannels  and  overcoat  aside  and  de- 
voted our  energies  trying  to  keep  cool.  This  place 
has  been  favored  by  nature  with  healing  springs  equal, 
if  not  superior,  in  efficacy  to  those  of  Ems  or  Spa  or 
Saratoga,  and  surrounded  by  scenery  more  beautiful, 
grand,  and  varied  than  that  of  any  similar  resort  in 
the  world.  Here  is  an  Arcadian  valley  lying  at  the 
foot  of  Pike's  Peak  protected  by  encircling  moun- 


64  OUR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 

tains.  The  village  abounds  in  hotels  which  rival  in 
elegance  and  luxury  also  ''price  per  day"  those  of 
the  famous  eastern  watering  places. 

I  had  for  quite  a  number  of  years  thought  that 
if  I  once  beheld  Pike's  Peak  I  never  would  rest  until 
I  had  stood  on  its  snow-capped  summit.  Alas,  for 
human  expectations!  I  found  it  bo  fearfully  hot  I  was 
glad  to  stay  in  the  valley  and  look  up  and  see  the 
snow  twelve  miles  away  and  almost  directly  above  us. 
We  drank  water  from  nearly  all  the  springs  and  bathed 
m  the  plunge  baths  and  as  a  consequence  were 
almost  sick  for  two  days  afterwards.     One  day  we 
spent  visiting  the  Garden  of  the  Gods.  Why  it  is 
called  a  garden  I  cannot  imagine;  it  looks  more  like 
a  deserted  graveyard  of  some  extinct  species  of  giants. 
Here  it  is  necessary  to  draw  largely  upon  your  imag- 
ination if  you  wish  to  see  in  these  rocks  a  striking 
resemblance  to  petrified  gods  of  Norse  mythology,  but 
probably  I  am  at  fault,  never  having  seen  those  gen- 
tlemen in  a  petrified  state.    The  drive  is  very  inter- 
esting, however,  and  upon  an  ordinary  cool  day  would 
be  extremely  pleasant.    Here  rocks  stand  about  like 
monuments,  and  fancy  can  call  up  many  strange 
resemblances.    One  day  while  in  Manitou  we  visited 
the  Grand  Caverns.    These  are  located  one  and  one- 
half  miles  from  the  springs.    The  route  to  the  cav- 
erns takes  us  up  the  historic  and  beautiful  Ute  Pass 
to  a  point  beyond  Eainbow  Falls  where  the  road 
turns  to  the  right  and  climbs  by  an  easy  grade  to  the 
elevated  spur  above.    Much  labor  and  money  have 


OUn  TttIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 


68 


been  expended  to  make  this  avenue  of  approach  the 
best  of  any  of  the  famous  drives  in  the  surrounding 
region.  The  Manitoa  Grand  Caverns  are  located 
amid  the  most  superb  scenery.  Directly  in  front,  as 
we  stand  at  the  portal,  Pike's  Peak  is  reared  above  the 
lesser  domes  of  the  Kockies,  its  majestic  snowy  crest 
Standing  out  boldly  against  the  clear  sky.  Below  is 
the  winding  road  by  which  we  have  come,  and,  by  a 
moment's  walk  along  the  slope  southward,  a  view  is 
obtained  hardly  to  be  surpassed  within  the  whole 
range  of  the  mountains.  I  think  there  were  about 
forty  tourists  in  our  party,  all  eager  to  enter  the  cav- 
ern, but  when  the  guide  demanded  $1.00  each  for 
admittance  quite  a  number  tried  to  have  this  exor- 
bitant fee  reduced  one-half;  but  this  the  guide  re- 
fused to  do,  consequently,  not  more  than  half  of  our 
party  went  through,  preferring  to  enjoy  the  outside 
scenery  to  inside  darkness  and  dampness,  and,  after 
one  experience,  the  other  half  would  do  the  same 
thing.  Each  of  those  entering  were  provided  with  a 
lamp  and  matches  and  told  to  follow  our  leader.  After 
passing  through  a  long  narrow  passage,  something 
like  the  entrance  to  coal  mines  in  eastern  Ohio  or 
where  coal  is  mined  from  hills,  our  first  point  of  in- 
terest was  the  Bee  Line  Vestibule  where  we  saw  the 
Grant  Monument  built  by  visitors,  placing  loose 
stones  one  above  another;  next  came  Stalactite  Hall 
where  objects  were  seen  resembling,  according  to  our 
guide's  testimony,  Duck's  Head,  Wax  Candles,  Ape, 
Snow  Owl,  Banyan  Tree,  Broken  Oolumn,the  Wreck, 


m  QUE  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 

and  Horse  Shoe  TuuneL  After  passing  through  sev- 
eral interesting  rooms  we  came  to  the  Opera  House; 
this  is  a  great  room  with  a  ceiling  not  less  than  sixty 
feet  from  the  level  floor;  here  wq  found  Grandpa  and 
Grandchild,  and  Andromeda,  still  chained  to  the  rock. 
Concert  Hall  comes  next  in  order.  This  room  con- 
tains the  most  marvelous  feature  of  the  caverns.  The 
visitor  upon  entering  faces  the  organ  top,  thirty  feet 
from  the  floor,  where,  as  though  built  in  the  wall  of 
the  cavern,  stands  the  famous  Stalactite  organ,  formed 
of  clear  stalactites  from  a  few  inches  to  several  feet 
in  length,  and  one-fourth  to  three-fourths  of  an  inch 
in  thickness.  This  natural  instrument,  under  the 
touch  of  a  player,  gives  the  full  musical  scale  and  is 
played  by  the  guide,  rendering  pleasing  airs  resem- 
bling in  tone  the  beautiful  chimes  of  a  village  church. 
Many  other  rooms  were  visited  and  then  we  were 
once  more  out  in  the  sunshine  and  ready  for  other 
scenes  more  cheerful  and  less  imaginary. 

The  next  day  we  were  up  quite  early  and  took 
the  morning  train  for  Colorado  Springs,  where  we 
found  a  carriage  and  driver  in  waiting  at  the  station 
to  take  us  to  the  top  of  Cheyenne  Mountain.  This 
is  a  delightful  drive  of  five  or  six  miles  through  pine 
groves  and  up  a  grade,  not  too  steep  to  be  difficult 
climbing.  Our  object  in  visiting  this  mountain  was 
to  see  the  last  resting  place  of  H.  H.  Jackson,  i)oefc 
and  authoress.  The  grave  is  on  the  top  of  a  spur  of 
the  mountain  in  a  small  grove  of  pines,  a  very  quiet 
and  lonely  place,  but  a  place  the  deceased  loved  and 


OVR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 


67 


used  to  frequent.  We  left  our  carriage  some  distance, 
from  the  grave  and  each  placed  a  small  stone  to  help 
finish  the  monument,  already  quite  large,  over  the 
grave,  then  rapidly  drove  back  to  Colorado  Springs. 

Colorado  Springs  is  a  beautiful  little  city  of  about 
ten  thousand  people  and  is  chiefly  a  city  of  homes 
where  families  of  many  of  the  most  influential  busi- 
ness men  of  the  state  reside;  it  is  a  temperance  town 
with  charming  society  and  has  an  elegant  Opera 
House.  There  are  many  points  of  scenic  interest 
within  an  hour's  drive  from  the  city.  The  dry  air, 
the  altitade,  and  the  climatic  conditions  make  this 
one  of  the  best  resorts  in  the  world  for  those  suffer- 
ing from  consumption.  The  death  rate  is  very  iow^ 
being  only  5.6  per  1000.  Outside  of  California  we 
came  across  no  more  delightful  spot  than  Colorado 
Springs;  our  only  objection  was,  we  found  it  fearfully 
hot.  Although  the  heat  is  intense  through  the  day 
the  nights  and  mornings  are  cool  and  pleasant. 

From  Colorado  Springs  we  went  to  Denver,  the 
capital  of  Colorado  and  a  city  of  125.000  people  with 
an  elevation  of  over  5,000  feet  above  sea  level.  The 
city  is  beautifully  situated  with  the  Great  Eocky 
Mountaius  on  the  west  for  a  background,  and  the 
illimitable  plains  stretching  to  the  Missouri  river 
on  the  east.  It  is  one  of  the  greatest  railroad  cen- 
ters in  the  west.  We  were  driven  over  the  city  and 
found  beautiful  parks  and  boulevards,  opera  houses 
and  costly  and  elegant  public  buildings,  private  res- 
idences costing  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars 


68  OUR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 

each,  acd  many  more  obvious  signs  of  wealth,  culti- 
vation, and  luxury.    We  visited  Tabor's  Grand  Op- 
era House,  the  finest  building  of  this  kind  in  Amer- 
ica.    We  also  visited  the  United  States  mint  where 
we  saw  gold  being  refined.    The  city  has  extensive 
systems  of  street  cars,  motor  lines  and  cables,  is 
lighted  by  gas  and  electricity,  has  excellent  water 
works,  good  police  force,  telephone  communications 
with  suburban  towns  to  the  distance  of  one  hundred 
miles,  as  well  as  all  over  the  city.    The  days  we  spent 
there  we  found  extremely  hot,  but  our  guide  book 
says  the  climate  is  delightful,  healthful,  and  invigor- 
ating.    Here  let  me  say  you  can  get  almost  any  kind 
of  a  climate  you  want  by  referring  to  your  guide 
book,  except  the  disagreeably  hot  or  cold,  wet  or  dry, 
this  is  never  mentioned  but  often  realized  by  a  disa- 
greeable experience.    The  growth  of  Denver  has 
been  very  rapid  and  wonderful  and  is  now  only  con- 
sidered as  on  the  threshhold  of  its  prosperity.  While 
in  Denver  we  were  pleased  to  meet  Mr.  S.  K.  Hooper, 
general  passenger  ticket  agent  of  Denver  and  Eio 
Grande  E.  E.,  a  brother  of  our  excellent  pastor  of  the 
M.  E.  church.    From  Denver  we  went  to  Ellsworth, 
Kansas,  and  from  there  to  Wichita,  Kansas. 


VIL 


KANSAS. 

In  traveling  from  Denver  to  Wichita  we  realize 
that  we  have  left  the  Pacific  coast,  with  its  bay  and 
climate,  fruit  and  flowers  far  behind.  We  also 
realize  that  we  have  bid  good  bye  to  the  grand 
Eockies  with  their  sublime  scenery,  deep  gorges, 
and  high  rocks,  and  are  once  more  in  a  prosy  coun- 
try very  much  like  our  own  prairie  state,  only  more 
rolling  and  less  peopled,  Once  more  are  we  travel- 
ing through  a  land  of  corn  and  hogs,  *^not  corn  an(J 
wine."  Kansas  is  a  prohibition  state  and  we  left  the 
wine  in  California,  did  not  even  have  a  sample  with 
us  to  stimulate  our  Kansas  friends.  The  west  half 
of  Kansas  is  a  treeless  plain  covered  with  ^hort  crisp 
buffalo  grass  and  sage  brush,  which  for  want  of  rain 
in  the  agricultural  seajson  may  be  termed  a  vast 
desert  of  wild,  sparse  pasturage,  barren  to  all  success- 
ful cultivation,  w^iile  the  eastern  half  of  the  state  is  a 
grand  rolling  plain,  watered  by  a  thousand  clear 


70 


OUR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 


streams  whose  valleys  are  unrivaled  in  the  produc- 
tion of  all  cereals,  vegetables,  and  fruits  known  to  the 
Middle  States,  with  rainfall  abundant  and  seasonable 
to  mature  all  crops.  A  delightful,  dry,  exhilarating 
atmosphere.  Cool  summer  nights,  warm  days,  ever 
tempered  by  a  cool  refreshing  breeze. 

Wichita  is  situated  in  the  Arkansas  valley,  one 
of  the  largest  and  most  beautiful  as  well  as  produc- 
tive valleys  in  the  state.  This  valley  embraces  an  area 
of  fifty  by  seventy  miles  and  is  traversed  by  the  Great 
and  Little  Arkansas,  Nioneseah,  Chicaskia  and  Wal- 
nut Rivers,  with  innumerable  lesser  but  no  less  beau- 
tiful streams,  well  skirted  with  timber.  This  region 
embraces  the  counties  of  Sedgwick,  Sumner,  and 
part  of  Cowley  and  Butler,  having  Indian  Territory 
for  its  southern  line.  The  soil  is  a  deep  black  veg- 
etable loam,  with  a  slight  admixture  of  sand,  warm 
and  genial  in  its  cultivation.  In  the  very  heart  of 
this  magnificent  country  above  described  is  Sedg- 
wick county,  and  Wichita  is  the  capital  of  Sedg- 
wick county,  and  the  great  commercial  metropolis 
and  railroad  center  of  Southwestern  Kansas.  Its 
wonderful  progress  and  remarkable  growth  has  been 
the  theme  of  conversation  among  hundreds  of  thous- 
ands of  people  throughout  the  country.  Writers 
have  exhausted  their  vocabularies  and  orators  their 
funds  of  rhetoric  in  dilating  upon  the  giant  strides 
of  this  future  great  city  of  the  west,  and  yet  it  is 
doubtful  if  even  the  half  has  been  told.  Indian  trad- 
ing and  cattle  buying  kept  the  few  inhabitants  of 


oun  mip  TO  cALiFomiA. 


71 


early  Wichita  pretty  well  employed  for  a  number  of 
years.  The  first  trading  camp  was  established  in 
1863  and  a  jT'ear  later  the  Wichita  Indians  went  into 
camp  at  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Arkansas  river  for 
the  purpose  of  tilling  the  soil.  In  the  early  part  of 
1867  Sedgwick  county  was  established  by  the  Kan- 
sas legislature,  and  in  November  1868  Wichita  was 
made  county  seat  in  an  election  polling  only  thirty- 
five  votes.  This  was  the  actual  beginning  of  Wich- 
ita. In  1870  the  new  place  had  advanced  sufficiently 
to  have  a  hotel  and  post  office,  a  law  office  and  a  bank. 
The  postmaster  carried  the  mail  in  his  liat,  and 
delivered  it  himself  in  the  intervals  when  he  was  not 
entertaining  the  cs-sual  traveler  at  his  hotel.  In  the 
year  following  the  inhabitants  succeeded  in  getting 
the  new  place  incorporated  as  a  city  of  the  third  class. 
Early  in  1 872  thecattle  shipping  point  was  transferred 
from  Newton  to  Wichita,  and  then  the  peaceful, 
sleepy,  little  tiading  place  became  the  roughest,  wild- 
est, and  wickedest  place  in  the  west.  The  desperado 
from  the  cattle  trail,  and  gambler  and  dance  house 
keeper  from  Kansas  City  made  the  town  what  they 
pleased,  and  the  moral  force  of  the  respectable  peo* 
pie  here  was  not  strong  enough  to  hold  them  in 
check.  For  four  years  Wichita  had  a  bad  name 
among  the  young  towns  of  Kansas,  and  what  was 
worse  she  deserved  it. 

When  the  cattle  shipping  point  was  transferred 
to  Dodge  City,  Wichita  had  a  population  of  three 
thousand,  a  few  streets  of  straggling  wooden  build- 


72  OUR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 

ings,  one  railroad  and  two  or  three  lively  newspa- 

In  1882  its  population  was  5,000 


pers 


«  1883  " 
"  1884  " 


8,000 
12,000 


"  1885  "       "  16,000 

"  1886  "  "        "  20,000 

"  1887  "  "        "  30,000 

"  1888  "  «       «  40,000 

"  1889  she  claims  45,000. 
This  I  think  a  rather  high  estimate  for  1889,  as 
opening  the  Oklahoma  country  took  a  great  many 
of  Kansas  people  and  of  course  Wichita  contributed 
her  quota.    She  now  claims  ten  railroads  leading  vn 
different  directions;  sixty  miles  of  street  car  and 
motor  lines  carrying  9,000  people  daily  ;  nine  univer- 
sities;  14  public  school  btiildings;  28  churches,  bhe 
has  Burton  car  works  costing  $400,000,  employing 
1  500  men;  Dold  &!Sons'  packing  house  costing $500,- 
000  and   employing  1,500  men;  48  manufacturing 
houses  with  a  capita  lof  13,800,000;  eight  banks  with 
a  capital  of  $2,150,000;  water  works  costing  $350,000; 
five  theaters  and  thirty  hotels.    Her  wholesale  bus- 
iness for  1887  amounted  to  over  $7,000,000;  retail, 
$11 000  000    There  were  three  thousand  buildings 
erected  in  1887  at  a  cost  of  $8,000,000;  taxable  prop- 
erty amounts  to  $50,000,000.  _ 

These  are  the  bare  and  dry  statistics  of  W  ichita 
of  to-day.  What  she  will  be  ten  years  from  now  is 
hard  to  predict.  In  1882  her  real  estate  boom  began 
and  grew  from  year  to  year  until  speculators  came  to 


OVR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 


73 


believe  that  it  would  go  on  indefinitely.  Eeal  estate 
worth  from  $40  to  $70  per  acre  for  farming  purposes 
quite  near  the  city  was  bought  by  the  thousands  of 
acres  plotted  and  laid  off  as  town  site  additions,  sold 
and  resold.  Day  after  day,  month  after  month,  the 
boom  went  on  until  real  estate  brought  a  larger  price 
in  Wichita  than  the  same  would  have  brought  in  St 
Louis  or  Chicago.  Lots  in  1882  on  some  business 
streets  sold  for  from  $500  to  $1,000  each;  in  1887  the 
same  sold  for  from  $10,000  to  $20,000  each.  Acre 
property  clear  in  1882  at  $75,00  per  acre  sold  for 
|lb,0b0  per  acre.  In  the  spring  of  1887  the  boom 
like  all  real  estate  booms  in  all  towns  broke  and 
ended  very  disastrously  to  many  late  investors.  For- 
tunately for  the  city,  she  began  growing  in  a  more 
satisf aciory  manner.  As  fast  as  real  estate  speculators 
dropped  out,  manufacturers  and  business  men  came 
in  knd  look  their  places.  The  Button  Stock  Car 
Works  with  its  immense  plant  and  numerous  workmen 
i?rere  wbrili  more  to  Wichita  than  the  entire  real  estate 
boom,  and  the  location  ol  the  Dold  &  Whitticar 
ineat  packing  establishments  meant  more  for  ths  per- 
manent good  of  the  city  than  two  or  three  million 
tioilars  or  spebulative  transfers  in  town  lots.  It  was 
the  actual,  visible  presence  of  institutions  such  as 
these  that  gave  Wichita  much  of  her  best  growth. 
When  outside  people  saw  that  Wichita  had  as  many 
factories,  houses,  and  business  places  on  the  ground 
as  she  had  on  paper,  they  were  in  no  way  inclined  to 
(ioubt  the  genuineness  of  the  city's  prosperity. 


74  OUR  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA. 

Although  at  this  writing  the  city  is  considered  very 
quiet  compared  to  booming  days,  she  is  just  finish- 
ing a  county  court  house  costing  over  $200,000;  a 
government  building  costing  over  $150,000;  a 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  building  costing 
$75,000;  $100,000  bonds  have  been  voted  for  more 
school  buildings  and  another  $100,000  for  a  city  build- 
ing. The  principal  streets  are  being  paved  at  a  large 
expense  and  the  city  is  being  thoroughly  sewered. 
Ths  crops  during  the  past  year  throughout  the  Arkan- 
sas  valley  were  never  better  and  the  prospect  for  an 
immense  wheat  crop  next  year  will  add  very  largely 
to  the  city's  prosperity,  when  the  same  are  harvested 
and  marketed.  Should  the  Indian  Territory  be 
thrown  open  for  settlement,  in  response  to  the  west- 
ern man's  demand  for  more  room,  the  city  of  Wich- 
ita might  double  her  population  in  five  years  by  the 
business  that  she  would  do  as  the  outfitter  and  gen- 
eral distributor  for  a  new  country. 

After  spending  a  very  pleasant  week  in  the  city 
of  Wichita  we  next  visited  Winfield,  Arkansas  City 
and  Geuda  Springs.  Winfield  and  Arkansas  City 
are  both,  bright,  prosperous  little  cities  in  the  Ar- 
kansas  valley  and  surrounded  by  a  very  rich  agricul- 
tural  country;  both  cities  have  numerous  railroads 
and  all  modern  improvements  such  as  waterworks, 
street  railways,  etc.  Geuda  Springs  is  a  watering 
place  as  its  name  would  imply.  Geuda  means  in  the 
Indian  tongue,  healing,  hence  Geuda  Springs  mean 
healing  waters.    There  are  seven  mineral  springs  all 


OVB  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA, 


75 


quite  close  together  and  all  liaviiig  different  proper- 
ties. During  the  spring,  summer,  and  fall  months 
hundreds  of  people  flock  here  and  many  are  largely 
benefited  by  the  use  of  the  waters.  The  town  is  not 
large,  has  one  railroad  and  seyeral  good  hotels,  is 
nine  miles  from  Arkansas  City  and  surrounded  by 
an  excellent  agricultural  country.  The  Land  and 
Town  Company  have  just  erected  an  immense  bath 
house  costing  about  $60,000,  furnished  elegantly  and 
supplied  with  all  modern  conveniences.  A  large 
brick  hotel  has  just  been  finished  and  it  is  thought 
that  a  motor  line  will  soon  be  built  from  Arkansas 
City.  There  is  no  doubt  about  the  virtue  of  the 
mineral  waters.  By  competent  judges  they  are  con- 
sidered quite  as  good  for  many  stomach  and  kidney 
troubles  as  any  waters  found  anywhere.  From 
Geuda  Springs  we  went  to  Topeka,  the  cajjital  of 
Kansas  and  a  very  nice  city  of  probably  forty  thous- 
and people.  Our  next  stop  was  Kansas  City,  next 
St.  Louis  and  then  home.  Kansas  City  and  St. 
Louis  are  too  familiar  to  most  of  our  friends  to  re- 
quire any  special  notice.  We  were  glad  to  once  more 
enter  the  Mississippi  valley  and  see  the  wonderful 
evidences  of  prosperity  on  all  sides,  the  green  fields, 
the  fat  stock,  the  comfortable  farm  houses  and  good 
barns  on  all  sides  spoke  in  strong  language,  the 
richness  of  our  own  Prairie  and  banner  State. 


THE  END. 


